Feathers and Water
by Elmethea
Summary: Feathered child of the muse/ Seeking water children's news/ Set the virgin's statue right/ Like a homing dove's pure flight. Set during The Lost Hero.
1. Andy

A/N: This story was originally a sequel to another. However, since I did not like the first story, I thought I would just go ahead and publish this one.

I mean, it's not like we get text messages from them everyday, Andy thought. Really, how would that read: _hey kid, reaped five cancer patients souls 2day. Luv ya, mom_? But then, Andy supposed the messages would be less creepy if they were sent to kids whose mom wasn't Macaria, goddess of peaceful death. Nico would get pretty weird ones as well, but that's about it. Like Will Solace's dad, Apollo, might send him a link to a Youtube video of some new hit song.

The gods had been silent for weeks now, and everyone in the camp was on edge. Andromache Tiber, only daughter of Macaria and currently the sole inhabitant of Cabin Thirteen, could not see what the fuss was about. She had met her mom once and _that_ was more contact than usual. The gods weren't exactly big on writing letters or sending Christmas cards.

But even the Oracle, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, had lost contact with her patron Apollo. No Iris-messages, notes, or anything remotely helpful had come through from Olympus in weeks. The only real surprise was that Sam had lost touch.

It's Kivese, now, Andy corrected herself. Sam, Andy's best friend, had been deified about three months ago. Apparently Sam wasn't a godly name so Zeus had made her change it. Kivese had quickly developed a reputation as the most helpful goddess, always answering prayers and requests from demigods. Now she was as silent as the rest of them. Andy knew Sam, and she knew her friend would never freeze her out like this.

Andy sat on the beach, her shoes discarded and her toe wiggling contentedly in the sand. The waves rushed up the sandy slope with a sinister hiss before falling back down into the sea once more. Oh, that was another thing gone wrong. Percy Jackson, son of the sea god Poseidon and leader of Camp Half-blood had disappeared this morning. Apparently he had gone into his cabin last night and never came out. Andy was supposed to be looking for him, like everyone else. But she had lost track of time down here on the beach. Oops.

Suddenly shouts came from camp. Andy twisted around, wondering if they'd found Percy. Maybe he'd fallen asleep somewhere strange and had woken up to find the camp in an uproar looking for him. Andy couldn't hear what the shouting was about, so she got up and struggled up the beach to the main part of the camp. Her shoes lay forgotten on the sand.

Andy crested the dunes and saw a great many of the campers huddled near the lake. At their center was a positively enormous storm-cloud grey stallion with massive smoke-colored wings. Andy had seen pegasi before in the camp stables, but this one was larger than any she had even seen. That could only mean one thing.

Pushing through the crowd, wriggling to the front, Andy at last came to stand next to Butch who was holding a handful of the pegasus' mane and soothing it. Cletus, Andy's satyr friend, was there and shifting anxiously from hoof to hoof.

"Andy, thank the gods," Annabeth said. She looked terrible, her blonde hair uncombed and her armor thrown on over a ripped t-shirt. She must be frantic with worry for Percy. "It's for you." Annabeth handed Andy a tightly rolled scroll. From the ribbon still dangling on the pegasus' neck, Andy guessed that the scroll had been tied to the animal.

A tiny drawing of a lyre enclosed in a sun was scribbled in one corner of the scroll. Those were the symbols of Kivese's parents: a lyre for Terpsichore muse of dance and a sun for Apollo god of light. The immenseness of the pegasus was because he was from the fields of Mount Parnassus, where Kivese lived. The pegasi there, direct descendants of the first Pegasus, were larger than most.

"Well, open it!" Annabeth snapped. "It might have something about - well, it has to be important if she went to such trouble to get it here." Andy could tell that Annabeth thought Kivese was sending a clue about Percy's location.

Andy unrolled the tightly furled scroll.

"_Olympus is closed. If you wish to know why, seek out my cousin. You'll find him in Adirondack. He knew the things that were and the things that would be and the things that had been before. I wish I could say more, but I will send someone to meet you and guide you to him._

_Kivese."_

She read it out loud and heard the murmur of the other demigods as they pondered the meaning.

"Adirondack?" Will asked. "Where's that?"

"A park in north New York," Annabeth said, sounding bitterly disappointed. "I suppose Andy will have to go there and find this, this cousin of Kivese."

"Have you ever heard of him?" Butch asked.

"No," Annabeth said, shaking her head and looking like she'd rather go back to searching for Percy. "But I guess Andy'd better go up there and see what all this is about."

"Is this a quest?" Andy asked. "Shouldn't the Oracle assign it?"

"No, I don't think that's necessary," Annabeth said, shaking her head. "But you'd best see Chiron and see how soon you can leave."

"Wait," someone said. Will Solace pushed his way to the front of the crowd. "If this is a quest, Andy should choose companions. Even if it's not a quest, I'd like to accompany her."

"I'm going, too!" Cletus insisted.

"Fine," Annabeth said absently. "I'm going to see if I can contact Thalia, Nico, and anyone else I can get a hold of - see if they've seen Percy."

Andy pocketed the scroll as Annabeth asked Cletus to speak to the pegasus and send him home to Parnassus.

"Um, Andy, where are your shoes?" Will asked.

"Oh, yes, they have gone, haven't they?" Andy said lightly. "Come on, let's go to the Big House."

The campers started to disperse and Andy went with Will towards the Big House, leaving Cletus muttering to the pegasus. Andy looked sideways at Will. He was tall, with sun-gold hair and bright blue eyes. Will always looked like he could run a mile, he was lithe and tan. He was also nineteen. Incredibly out of Andy's league.

Andy took stock of her own appearance. Short and pale with dark, tangled hair and light brown eyes that were slightly too big for her face. Her clothes were a bit ragged and a bit small and her legs were coated up to the knee in caked sand. She was also only fifteen.

So, since it was impossible that Will could like her, Andy was stumped as to why he would volunteer for this "quest". Sure, Kivese was his half-sister and all, so Andy supposed that made this cousin of hers Will's cousin, too. Maybe he just wanted to meet his relative. Or maybe he wanted to find out why his dad wasn't talking to anyone.

"Are you always this quiet?" Will asked as they took a shortcut across the volleyball court.

"Never," Andy answered.

"Oi! Wait for me!" They turned and saw Cletus trotting after them between the rows of strawberries. The satyr was panting and practically wheezing by the time he caught up with them.

"Di immortales!" he coughed. "Do you have any idea how fast you walk?"

"Like a squirrel who's seen peanut butter!" Andy said. Cletus weakly raised his hand and accepted Andy's high five. Will seemed crossed between amusement and downright confusion. He also looked a little like he wanted to join in, but didn't know how.

"Okay, okay I'm not dying anymore," Cletus gasped, straightening up.

"Aw!" Andy said, pouting. She got the satyr in a head lock and began to drag him up the stairs to the porch.

"Chiron?" Will called.

A faint call answered and Will immediately went in.

"Where is he?" Andy asked.

"Well, he either said 'I'm in my office' or 'I hit my face'," Will said, turning down the hallway. Andy gave Cletus an amused look and he shrugged. They passed the door that led to the orientation room and another open door. Andy stopped at this one and Cletus nearly ran into her.

"What is it?" Will asked, noticing they weren't following. He backtracked and looked into the room.

It was clean, small, and utterly unremarkable. Two bobby pins lay just under the shadow of the bed and a brown barrette had been abandoned in the corner.

"Sam's room," Andy said. They looked in there silently for a moment.

"Yes?" Chiron's voice asked. Andy turned and saw the centaur peering out of his door at the end of the hall.

"We've had word from Sa - Kivese," Will said. "Andy, show him the scroll."

"How did it arrive?" Chiron asked, taking the scroll and reading it.

"Pegasus," Andy said.

"This is odd," Chiron frowned. "Kiveve's using her parents combined symbols, but not her own. She's adopted her own... so why is she using her parents?"

"Maybe she's acting on their behalf," Will mused.

"I think it's more than that," Chiron said, shaking his head. "I think she's taken it upon herself to act in the interest of all the other gods. Of course, that's just speculation. It could be she simply didn't think to use her symbol. But that's not the only odd thing. This cousin of hers, I've never heard of him. He must be some minor god or something, but I can't seem to remember anyone like this. Andromache, how soon can you leave?"

"Soon as I find my shoes," Andy said.

"Good. I take it Will and Cletus are coming with you?" Andy nodded. Chiron continued, "Well, that just leaves the question of how you're going to get to Adirondack National Park. And where he is in Adirondack; the park is over 9,000 square miles!"

"Kivese said she'd help us once we got there," Andy pointed out.

"And I can drive, if you'll let us borrow one of the vans," Will said quickly.

"Hmm, the last time we leant out one of the vans for a quest it didn't come back," Chiron remarked. "But all the same... I suppose it's all right this once. Try not to crash it, will you?"

A/N: I will probably be using this space to give a few notes on Greek myths or characters mentioned in each chapter as we go along. Think of it as a footnotes section.

Macaria: daughter of Hades and Persephone. Minors goddess associated with blissful and peaceful death

Andromache: the name comes from Homer's _Iliad_ where Hector, a prince of Troy, has a wife named Andromache. She survived to see the death of her father, brothers, husband, and son

Terpsichore: muse of dance, her symbol was the lyre

Mount Parnassus: home of the muses, also the place where Pegasus lived towards the end of his life


	2. Will

This wasn't Will's first quest, and it wasn't even a proper quest, but Will couldn't help but feel excited. He wondered who this cousin was and if he knew how to get in contact with Will's dad and the other Olympians.

Will had been having terrible dreams over the past few weeks. Dreams always meant something for demigods, but for children of Apollo they were practically visions of the future. The only problem was, Will couldn't remember the content of his nightmares. He could always ask Clovis, he supposed, but given the opportunity he would rather confide in family.

When he went back to Cabin Seven to pack, it was empty. The Apollo campers had joined up with the Athena ones to scour the hills. Will felt a twinge of guilt; he liked Percy and hoped he was okay, but he really wanted to see this cousin of his. Will quickly threw together a pack of nectar, ambrosia, a change of clothes, a first aid kit, his ipod, and flashlight. They probably wouldn't be gone more than a few days.

He checked to make sure his quiver was fully stocked with both sonic and normal arrows. He went ahead and replaced his fraying bowstring with a new well oiled one. Will slung his backpack and quiver over his shoulder; grasping his bow, he left the cabin and went to the base of Thalia's hill.

Cletus was there, chewing something that looked suspiciously like a scrap of leather. He had a bag full of food. Will was glad to see that Cletus had thought to pack food that was edible to humans as well as satyrs.

"Where's Andy?" Will asked. He didn't know the girl very well, just that she had been on her first quest a few months ago and that she had annoyed Nico to Hades and back when they had both been staying in Cabin Thirteen.

"I think she's trying to find her shoes," the satyr said.

"Has she only got one pair?" Will asked. He knew a lot of the demigods came from fairly poor families, and he also seemed to remember that Andy stayed year round at camp, indicating that she didn't have much of a home to go back to.

"No, but she really likes that pair," Cletus said. She was very strange, this Andy. Will thought she was sort of cute, but he couldn't really keep up with her.

"Found them!" Andy called. Will turned and saw the girl bouncing over from the direction of the beach. She had tamed her hair back into a ponytail and thrown a black hooded sweatshirt over her orange camp shirt. Her jeans had been torn off at the knees.

"Hey Argus!" Andy smiled, waving at the multi-eyed guard who stood on the ridge above them. He was standing next to Peleus and waiting for them. Will could see the car keys of the van in one of Argus' hand.

Will offered to carry Andy's bag and she laughed like that was funny before turning and leaping up the slope. Cletus and Will followed her. As they got close, Peleus lifted his head and hissed softly. Argus glowered at the dragon with about twenty of his eyes and Peleus whimpered and cowered back.

Argus handed the keys over to Will with a stern look, as though warning him he'd better not crash the van, or blow it up, or have it impounded by a Cyclopes.

The van was nothing special, just a white mini with the words "Delphi Strawberry Service" printed on the side. Will sort of wished it was a little classier, but beggars can't be choosers as his mother always said. They loaded their belongings in the back, then climbed in front. Will made himself comfortable behind the wheel while Andy secured herself the shotgun seat and Cletus took over the back.

"Right, first things first," Will said, turning the radio on and clicking through the station. "No, ghastly, absolutely no, worst thing ever..."

"Wait, go back! I liked that one!" Andy said.

"No, you don't," Will told her.

"I think I know what kind of music I like!" Andy fumed.

"That's not music, that's Justin Bieber."

"Says who?"

"My dad's the god of music, I think I can tell what's music and what's not," Will said. He flipped through a couple more stations.

"This one!" Andy stopped him. OK Go's "Here It Goes Again" filled the car.

"Yes!" Will said, turning the volume up.

"Finally, we agree on something," Andy grinned. Will smiled back at her. Who knows, if nothing tried to kill them, this quest might be kind of fun. But then, what were the chances of something not trying to kill them? Slim to none.

Cletus fell asleep somewhere in Queens. Andy stayed up, talking to Will about anything and everything. She told him about her quest with Sam and how Sam hadn't wanted to become a goddess. She'd wanted to stay in camp with Andy and get to know her half-siblings in Cabin Seven. No, Andy hadn't known Sam had a cousin and she didn't know anything about him.

Will spotted the Empire State Building as Andy was twisting around in her seat, digging for something in the back. When she turned back around, bag of potato chips in hand, she saw him looking at the skyscraper.

"There's got to be a reason," Andy muttered. She pulled open the bag of chips and their scent filled the car; Cletus mumbled something about flatware being delicious before turning over.

"You haven't heard anything from your mom, have you?" Will asked. He knew Andy's mother, Macaria, lived in the Underworld.

"Nope," Andy said, offering him some chips. "I think the ban is extended to the Underworld. But then again, it's not like we talked much." Will nodded thoughtfully. The gods were rather unapproachable on a normal basis, but over the past few weeks...

"I just wish I could talk to him, one time," Will said. Andy said nothing, but Will had a feeling that she knew who he was talking about.

"Should we stop?" he asked, noticing a gas station up ahead.

"No," Andy said. "I have a feeling we should get back to camp as soon as possible."

Will nodded. He was glad he wasn't the only one with the uneasy feeling, but at the same time strangely disappointed. He was a son of Apollo, surely he should have premonitions or _something_ besides nightmares. They opted not to stop for lunch, but ate the snacks Cletus had brought.

From New York City, Will took Northway I-87. After a while, he noticed that Andy kept looking out of the window and up at the sky.

"Waiting for a monster to swoop down and kill us?" Will asked. He made his tone joking, but both of them knew that he was dead serious.

"Something of that sort, yeah," Andy said. "How much longer, do you think?"

"About another five," Will guesstimated.

"Let's stop at the next town," Andy said.

He flipped on the blinker and changing lanes. "Cletus? Cletus, wake up! Dinner time."

A/N: No fascinating facts today, everything seems pretty straightforward!


	3. 3 Will

A/N: Sorry, it's another short chapter.

They stopped at a Wendy's. Will had chosen it because it was normal, and normal wasn't something demigods often had.

Will got a cheeseburger and Andy settled down with a kid's meal of chicken nuggets. Cletus had a distinctly wilted salad. Will couldn't help but grin as they ate and Andy smiled back.

"So, when is something going to attack us?" Cletus yawned.

"Shut up, Mr. Tumnus," Andy growled, cuffing him on the back of the head. "We were enjoying the normality of the situation, thank you very much for ruining it."

They sat there longer than they had to, sipping their cokes. Andy eventually went back to the counter and ordered three Frosties. Will watched her for a moment, checking to make sure the girl at the cash register didn't turn into a harpy or something, before turning back. Cletus was frowning, his eyes downcast.

"What's up?" Will asked, immediately on guard.

"Something's stuck under the table," Cletus told him. "I think I've almost got it... there!" He pulled a ripped sheet of paper out from under the table just as Andy returned with desert.

"What's that?" she asked.

"I found it under the table," Cletus said. "I think... I think it might be from a half-blood." Will took it and began to read it softly, so that the people at other table couldn't hear.

"It says: 'I, Polydorus, always knew history to repeat itself. I have uncovered a great secret, something that may be the doom of us all. I should have listened when they told me to avoid the land south of Hudson Valley. I fear I shall never return home. They are coming for me. I do not have much time. I hope, if this note is ever read, that the news of my death will reach friends. Father, I am sorry if I have failed you'."

"Well, that's cheery," And said. "Reminds me of that scene in Lord of the Rings: 'We cannot get out. They are coming', or something like that."

"When was this written?" Cletus asked. Will turned the paper over and read the back. It was a flyer for a town meeting. A town meeting that took place forty years ago.

"I wonder who these friends are, the ones he wants us the reach," Andy mused.

"If this is from a half-blood, those friends are probably dead by now," Will said. "Polydorus. That name sounds familiar."

"I think we should go, before whatever happened to old Poly happens to us," Andy said.

"It's getting dark," Will said. "We should find someplace to stop the car for the night. Get some sleep. It's too late to help Polydorus now."

They took the slightly melted Frosties back to the van and Will started the car up. They decided to drive for another hour, pushing on to the next town before stopping. Cletus and Andy started a game of I Spy, but it didn't go on very long before it was too dark to spy anything.

"It just doesn't make sense," Andy said, frowning at the paper from the Wendy's. "I mean, why should he be afraid of the land south of the Hudson Valley? That's where camp is!"

"I dunno," Will shrugged. "Hey look, hotel parking lot. No one's going to notice a car that stays there overnight, huh?"

"And a public bathroom across the street? Score!" Andy said. Will wondered if she was really excited about the bathroom, or just pretending. It was hard to tell with Andy.

There was plenty of room in the back of the van to stretch out so, after a few trips to the bathroom, they lay down to sleep. Will put the earbuds of his ipod in and turned the volume down low. In the Apollo cabin, music was always playing and Will found he couldn't sleep without it.

Andy fell asleep right away, her mouth slightly open and hair falling across her face. Will, sitting with his back against the side of the van, leant forward and gently brushed the hair out of her face, so that she wouldn't inhale it and choke. Cletus, who'd been sleeping most of the day, looked wide awake and slightly nervous.

"You go ahead and sleep," the satyr told Will, his voice slightly muffled by the music playing in Will's ears. "I can stay up for a bit, make sure nothing happens."

"Thanks man," Will said. He pulled his bag closer and used it as a pillow. He tried to stay awake, but sleep overtook him.

A/N: Footnotes

Polydorus: the name refers to a prince of Troy mentioned in _Hecuba, Metamorphoses, _and _The Aeneid. _His father sent him away at the start of the Trojan War so he wouldn't be killed. However, Polydorus's protector betrayed and murdered him. Vergil claims that the dead prince was transformed into a myrtle tree, which bled and cried out when Aeneas plucked its boughs. This Polydorus, however, is a halfblood - but from which camp?


	4. 4 Andy

Will shot up into a sitting position, his blue eyes wide. He was covered in sweat and panting slightly.

"Hey, it's okay," Andy told him. "We're safe. You were having a nightmare."

"Yeah, nightmare," Will muttered, rubbing a hand over his face. "Gods, I feel terrible."

"Do you remember what it was about?" Andy asked. "My dad tells me it makes you feel better if you tell someone about it."

"I don't remember," Will said, going to the door of the van and opening it. Weak morning light filled the van. He breathed the fresh air deeply. "Where's Cletus?"

"Finding breakfast," Andy said. "We wanted to get to Adirondack by lunchtime, so we need to head out soon. Do you think you'll be up to driving?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," he said. "I just need coffee."

"I'm not allowed to drink coffee," Andy said wistfully.

"Why not?" Will asked.

"Uh, long story," Andy said uncomfortably. Will left for the bathroom, leaving Andy by herself in the car.

Cletus hurried into sight, clutching a bag. "Did you get coffee?" Andy asked him.

"You can't have coffee," Cletus said sternly.

"No, but Will wants some," Andy said. "What's in the bag?"

"Cinnamon rolls," Cletus said. "Look, do we really have time to stop for coffee?"

"There's always drive-thru at Starbucks," Andy shrugged, biting into the warm, gooey cinnamon roll.

The van pulled out of the hotel parking lot at seven in the morning. Will said that they had about four hours before they reached the part boundary. After that, they had to rely on Kivese's promised guide.

"What if she can't send one?" Cletus fretted. "Or what if we miss him, or he gets killed? The park's huge, we'll never find her cousin!"

"Cletus, shut up," Andy grumbled. She felt worse for the wear after having spent all last night sleeping on the hard floor of the van and then having to wake up to take the early morning watch. "We won't miss it. Sam'll come through."

Will looked at her strangely. He had perked up since he'd gotten coffee, but clearly the lack of sleep last night had taken its toll. He stopped in Albany, to stretch their legs and get some sodas, but Andy could see it was an excuse for him to try and wake up.

Andy picked up a brochure about Adirondack Park while they were in Albany. She struggled to read it, her dyslexia acting up. She hadn't said it last night, but she was extremely jealous at how easy it had been for Will to read.

"It says... that the Park is surrounded by a buelin," Andy read.

"Eh, that says blue line," Cletus translated.

"What, like a blue line painted on the ground?" Will asked.

"No, it's sort of a park boundary," Andy said. "But it's called a blue line. Something about maps or whatever. Now, the highway goes straight into the park, no trouble. But once we're inside, maybe we should take one of the smaller roads. Go slower. See if we can spot that guide."

"Great, which road?" Will asked, suppressing a yawn.

"Well, 28 seems to lead straight into the park, so let's try that one," Andy said. "You know, I'm surprised nothing's attacked us yet."

"Yeah, or tried to buy strawberries off us," Cletus agreed.

"Tell you the truth, it's kind of making me uncomfortable," Will said. "I mean, sure it's great while it lasts. But it's almost like we're being lulled into a false sense of security."

Andy nodded. She wondered if they'd found Percy yet back at the camp. Somehow, she didn't think so.

"You know, the scenery really is lovely," Cletus remarked into the long pause. It was certainly true, tall dark trees grew up on either side of the road, ruffling their branches like a bird would its feathers in the wind. They had lunch at a small place just outside the park. Despite his lack of sleep, Will had managed to fulfill their goal of getting there before noon.

When they'd finished eating, the three of them stood outside next to the van. Waiting. Waiting for what? Or rather, who?

"Well, we'd best revert to the plan of 28," Will said. Andy frowned; she was beginning to suspect that Will didn't think Sam would keep her promise to guide them.

The park really was beautiful. It was summer, and the leaves were dark, rich green. The sky was cloudless and bright. Andy could see deer moving among the trees and tourists would pull over to the side of the road to photograph them. There were families sitting at rest stops having picnics; Andy watched them through the window of the car and felt lonely.

In sheer desperation, Will pulled the van off the road onto a scenic overlook.

"Look, there's got to be hundreds of people in the park today," he said. "I'm not so sure we can rely on Kivese's guide."

"Did you hear that?" Cletus asked suddenly. They were quiet for a moment, and Andy could just hear a faint whimper.

"It sounds like something's hurt," Will said, scanning the underbrush.

"No, it's not hurt," Cletus said, shaking his head. "I can't sense its distress."

"There!" Will said suddenly, keeping his voice down. He pointed his bow into the thick undergrowth. Andy squinted into the shadows and saw a flash of red fur.

A fox crept out from the ferns and sat down at the edge of the road. His paws were black, like they'd been dipped in paint, and his whiskers were the same. The fox twitched those dark whiskers at them and examined them with clever dark eyes.

"Have you ever seen a wild fox this close to a human?" Will asked wonderingly.

"I've never seen a wild fox," Andy said.

"He says we're to follow him," Cletus told them. "He says we are very close now." The fox winked its clever, mischievous eyes as he stood and turned around. He flicked his white-tipped tail at them, as though beckoning for them to follow, then stepped lightly back into the underbrush.

The three of them checked to make sure they had their weapons (Cletus picked up a thick stick and held it at the ready) before following. The brochure had said that bears lived in the woods; Andy though it would be a poor way to die if she was killed by a bear after having escaped magical, mythical monsters and angry goddesses.

The fox plunged straight into the forest, occasionally looking back as though checking that they were all following him. Andy estimated that they had walked more than two miles when the fox suddenly vanished.

"Where'd he go?" Will asked, casting around and using his bow to poke the undergrowth.

"You don't think... this might be a trap?" Cletus asked. Andy suddenly grew tense, looking around suspiciously. Will and Cletus also stiffened and became wary.

"No," Andy said. "Sam... Kivese wouldn't have."

"Maybe the fox wasn't from Kivese," Cletus said. That certainly wasn't a comforting thought.

"Let's keep going," Will said, forging ahead in the direction the fox had been going. Andy and Cletus followed, weapons at the ready. They'd barely gone four feet before Will suddenly stopped and Andy ran into him.

"What's up?" she asked, peering around him.

"Di immortales," Cletus remarked, looking ahead of them.

The darker, thicker oak and maple trees suddenly stopped and the thick, knee deep undergrowth also ceased. It was as though a line had been drawn where the normal forest stopped. On the other side of this line lay a bright, green forest of thin birch trees. It was almost as though an entirely different forest had been plopped down in the middle of Adirondack National Park.

A narrow gully led into the strange wood. Without a word, Andy started up the gully with Will and Cletus close behind, weapons still ready.

A/N: Another straightforward chapter. No footnotes.


	5. 5 Andy

The trees were tall and grew straight. Soft green light filtered down through their leaves and lit the forest floor. Andy, Will, and Cletus's (fake) feet crunched on the leaf litter as they made their way up the gully.

"I hate to say this..." Cletus said at last. "But doesn't it seem a little... loud?" Andy had noticed the sound before - bird chirps that were long and trilling and distinctly unearthly, the sound of shuffling and slithering through the leaves, and strange animals calling out in what sounded like curiosity, or pain - but she wasn't sure if that level of noise was normal. She'd never been in a forest before. The volume continued to steadily increase, coming from all sides until Will put his hands over his ears and screwed up his face in pain. Then suddenly it stopped.

"Who walks the forest?" a voice called. It seemed to come from all sides at once, echoing weirdly.

"Who are you? Show yourself!" Will ordered, notching an arrow and pointing it randomly at the trees.

Off to the right, someone stepped out from behind a particularly wide birch tree. Andy, Cletus, and Will turned to face him, weapons drawn and ready. Andy looked up at the boy, who was slight and of medium height and wearing an odd, old-fashioned tight-fitting tunic. The boy's hair was longer than most, and a bright robin's feather had been tangled in it. He wore some sort of collar at his neck, and from this many long feathers stuck out on one side. The belt around his waist was wider than modern fashion with a brass buckle and a hunting knife hanging from it. But the most distinctive thing about him was the longbow, nearly as tall as Andy, that was fully drawn and pointed at Will.

"Who walks the forest?" the boy asked again.

"Friends," Will called.

"A poor excuse for friends if they draw arms on one another," the boy retorted. "Come, a show of good faith. Set down your weapons, and I shall withdraw mine." The boy had an odd way of speaking, a way Andy had never heard except in books about England.

Cletus and Will looked sideways at Andy and she realized with a start that they were waiting for her lead. She carefully sheathed her sword and raised her hands in a gesture of surrender. Will looked unhappy, but lowered his bow and Cletus let his stick fall to the ground.

"Friends then," the boy said, putting his arrow back into the quiver upon his back and smiling down at them. "What brings you to the green wood?"

"We seek an answer," Andy said. The boy's face betrayed nothing, but he leapt lightly down the slope, reminding Andy of a sparrow more than anything.

"And you think I possess the answer," the boy said, coming to a landing in front of them. "Speak then."

"Do you know why Olympus is closed?" Andy asked. The boy stared at her and, with an apologetic smile, shook his head. But then he threw his long bow over his back and spread his arms welcomingly.

"I have answers to many questions," he said. "Answers not bestowed on many of my blood. That one answer I cannot say, but others I have. Come, if we are friends, and enter the green wood. Camp is not far, but it is hidden."

Will looked at Andy and she shrugged. With a skip, she joined the boy's side and smiled up at him.

"Lead on, Obi-Wan," she said. He looked at her with a faintly confused smile, as though he had never seen Star Wars (a shocking lack of pop-culture), but led the way back up the slope.

The leaves were slippery and Andy could hear Will struggling behind her, cursing under his breath. Cletus appeared to be navigating the hill fairly easily, but Andy slipped and nearly fell face flat on the forest floor. A strong hand caught her elbow and the boy righted her. She beamed at him gratefully and he nodded back, the feathers around his neck bobbing slightly.

"Three travelers deep in my forest, seeking news," Sam's cousin said, shaking his head. "What names do you bear?"

"Bear?" Cletus asked, looking scared and glancing nervously around. "I don't see a bear!"

"I'm Andy Tiber, and the idiot is Cletus," Andy gestured towards the satyr. "And that's Will Solace."

They were at the top of the ridge now and the boy stopped to give them a graceful bow. "Robin of the green wood, at your service," he said. Andy would have laughed, but she didn't think Robin was trying to be funny.

"You said something earlier about many of your blood," Will said. "What blood status are you?"

"Jeez, is this Harry Potter?" Andy asked, rolling her eyes and trying to joke it off. If Robin was a god, he might be really pissed that this puny little mortal was asking him impertinent questions.

"My mother is Calliope, muse of epic poetry. My father, a mortal," Robin said, seemingly not disturbed by Will's question and unsure of what Andy's comment meant. Seriously, when was the last time this guy had left the forest?

"And let me guess your parents," Robin said, looking them over. "I believe you to be a son of Apollo, that much is evident. A wise and powerful god, he taught me archery in the foothills of Parnassus." Will looked slightly mollified by this compliment to his father. Robin looked at Andy and smiled, "A daughter of Macaria I have never seen before. But welcome and be safe in the forest. The satyr," he turned and examined Cletus critically. "I think a dryad bore you and - though I cannot be sure - perhaps Lady Tithorea herself?"

Cletus blushed heavily and he stared at Robin with unabashed awe.

"Who?" Andy asked. She'd never heard of Tithorea before.

"That's right!" Cletus said excitedly. "That's right! That's my... my..."

"Mom?" Will finished for him. The three of them stared at Robin, who smiled sheepishly.

"I am good with names and families," he shrugged, as though it was no big deal. "But you did not come here seeking those answers. I wonder why it is you came here."

"Olympus is closed," Andy explained, "And none of use can reach our godly parents."

"Neither Macaria nor Hades live on the heavenly mountain," Robin said at once. "Nor do Hypnos or Thanatos, though the latter has no children. But I see why you come here. My mother does not live on the mount either."

Andy and Will nodded. "You think I might still speak with her," Robin continued. "And so know the dealings of her divine father, almighty Zeus, and his other children." Andy hesitated and then haltingly nodded. Robin grinned widely and settled his quiver on his back.

"Then come. As I said before, camp is not far."

He led them through the woods, keeping on a fairly straight path that was only visible to him. They came to a thicket and Robin pulled a branch aside, waving them through. Andy ducked under and when she straightened, found that she was in a cleared glade.

The trees had grown close here and Robin had taken advantage of that fact, stringing up curtains between them or using the thick bushes to grow as walls. A bed, seemingly carved entirely from one tree, stood firmly in a corner, but the majority of the space was taken up by a cooking fire and makeshift kitchen. A large table stood to one side and upon it were dozens of books, some in languages Andy couldn't even recognize. She did see a few that she could read easily. Startled (because her dyslexia made it nearly impossible for her to read _anything_ right) Andy squinted at their titles and saw the words _Iliad_, _Odyssey_, _Argonautica, _and_Theogony _printed on their spines in gold letters.

A stool was pulled near the fire and a few unfletched arrows were lain upon it, as though he had just abandoned finishing them. A small clay jar was seated upon the coals of the fire and some sort of jelly-like, silvery-white substance was swirling in it.

Will and Cletus entered and gave murmurs of appreciation. Robin followed and immediately went to the stool, scooping up the arrows in one hand and depositing them on the ground. He took off his great long bow and leant it against the bed.

"Sit where you like," he offered, gesturing around. "It is not everyday I have guests." Andy sat on the bed with Cletus, while Will took the stool and glanced enviously at the longbow.

"Can I offer food to anyone?" Robin. "What little I have is enough to share."

They all declined and Robin sat down on the ground beside the fire. He picked up one of the unfinished arrows and pulled a knife out. Carefully, he carved a thin notch at one end of the arrow.

"I must ask who sent you to me," Robin stated as he carved another two notches on that same arrow. "The Oracle, perhaps?"

"No," Andy said. "It was - " She had been about to say Sam. Andy stopped, took a deep breath and said, "Kivese."

"Ah, my cousin," Robin nodded, giving a slight smile. "And why did she not tell you your answers?"

"Because she's a goddess," Will said sharply. He was acting very odd, almost as though he was annoyed by Robin. "And they can't help us directly."

Robin nodded, neither arguing or showing annoyance at Will's sharp tongue. Instead he fished a little bag out of his tunic and spilled its contents on the ground. Feathers of all colors spilled out of it, covering a small area in a soft, downy fall. Robin selected a white feather (possibly goose, Andy couldn't be sure) and examined it.

"I am different than my cousin," he said, taking a twig and dipping it into the heated jar. He carefully, painstakingly spread the glue along the shaft of the feather. Then, with excess caution, he placed the sticky feather into one of the notches on his arrow. Holding it steady while it dried, Robin looked up and smiled at them all.

"I am different than all demigods," he said. "For it is traditional that a half-blood be raised by its mortal parent. If their mothers are divine, the babe is taken before he, or she, can even suckle at their mother's breast. Not so with I. I was raised upon the knee of my divine mother, Calliope, and kept under her unwaveringly selfless care and the watch of her sisters until I was eighteen years of age. Because of this, I am close to my mother. Because of this, she can help me directly." He checked the feather and, satisfied, set the next two before speaking again.

"I will ask my mother for you," he said. "I cannot say if she will know, but if she does she will speak the truth to me. Cletus son of Tithorea, will you go and bring me the _Divinia Commedia_?" Cletus looked surprised, but jumped up and trotted over to the table. He looked through the books and eventually picked one up. Carrying it back to Robin, he set it in the boy's hand. Robin nodded his thanks and carefully opened the book.

"Le muse della O, alto genio della O, ora lo aiutano! La memoria della O che ha inciso le cose che ho veduto, qui vostro degno sara manifesta a tutti!" Robin read solemnly, one hand raised at though in supplication. He closed the book and set it aside on the nest of feathers.

"O-kay," Andy said. "And that was... Latin?"

"Italian," Robin smiled. "I find invocations work best in their original language. Roughly translated, it says, 'O Muses, O high genius, aid me now! O memory that engraved the things I saw, Here shall your worth be manifest to all!"

"What's an invocation?" Andy asked.

"A prayer to your muse," Robin said. "Usually, it is to Calliope. I have no skill making my own invocations, so I read others. Dante is especially inspiring and nonspecific."

Suddenly Robin stiffened and closed his eyes; he raised a hand, warding off questions as he listened to a voice no one else could hear.

"The gates of the divine mountain are closed

The gods sit in council, or alone in their chambers

They speak or do not speak, however they choose

One of them is absent, she does not speak

The Mother, Sister, Wife, and Queen

Where, oh where is Hera of Argos?

She does not speak against her king

Nor does she challenge his foolish, fearful ruling.

Earth and Heaven have been intermingled, says he

Now Earth stirs, Heaven is silent. Children will cry

But parents not answer. Such is his solemn decree."

Robin stopped speaking and his eyes opened, but they did not focus on anything. Rather, he remained stiff and silent, as though he was still listening. He frowned slightly and Andy found herself holding her breath: with a shock, she realized that this was the first time he had frowned.

"Andy," Will whispered, calling her attention back. Andy looked at him sharply; when Will jerked his head sideways, she followed his glance and saw a bag under the table of books. The bag was slightly open and apparently stuffed with arrows. _Silver _arrows.

"For trading," Robin said suddenly, twisting around to follow their line of sight. He smiled at Andy, and she must have only been imagining the flash of worry in his eyes.

"With who?" Will asked. Robin shrugged and began to fletch another arrow, this time with a barred feather of some sort of raptor.

"Queen Hera is missing," Robin said, his voice just a little too calm. "And that is why Olympus is shut."

"There was more," Will argued. "You said something about children crying, and Earth and Heaven."

"You have seen all this already," Robin explained. "You have seen the half-blood children cry, and their godly parents remain silent. Heaven is withdrawn."

Suddenly a bird trilled, loud and close. Robin looked up, a gleam of anticipation in his eye and a smile on his lips.

"_That_ part of Heaven is not withdrawn," he remarked, standing up and rushing to one side of the clearing, where a curtain had been tacked up. Robin hurried to pull the curtain down and looked out into the wood beyond. Andy froze for a moment, seeing his slight figure silhouetted against the brightening gold light. Then she heard a very faint voice come through the trees.

"Ho in the green wood..." it called from far away.

Robin cupped a hand to his face and sang back the clear, ringing note: "Ho-oh!"

"Who's that?" Will asked, shooting to his feet and reaching for his bow. Robin glanced back over his shoulder and grinned.

"Traders."

A/N: Footnotes

Tithorea: A dryad from the region of Phokis, said to be near Parnassus

Hypnos and Thanatos: brothers, gods of Sleep and Death respectively, whom Ovid described as living in a Palace of Sleep in the Underworld

_Divinia Commedia_: the passage is from The Divine Comedy, Inferno, Canto II


	6. 6 Will

Will wasn't sure why, but he hated Robin. When Kivese had said her cousin would help, Will had thought she meant _their_ cousin. As in another son of Apollo. But then, she would have said her brother, Will thought. Still, Will felt a surge of aggression towards this arrogant, pompous boy.

Robin thought he was special because his mother raised him. Well, Robin could jump off a cliff for all Will cared. Demigods were lucky to get a message from their parent at all, let alone be answered _every single time they had a question._ And Apollo had taught Robin archery. That killed Will. His dad, his own father, had thought some Muse's son more important than Will. More important than his own children: Lee, Michael, Austin, Kayla, and all the others back in Cabin 7.

It didn't help that Will had once heard that Calliope was Apollo's favorite mistress in all of heaven and earth. No, that didn't help at all.

Now Andy was staring at Robin like he was some kind of god or Adonis reborn or something. Even Cletus seemed taken with him. Robin's back was still turned, looking out into the woods for these traders, or whoever they were.

"Andy, I think we should leave," Will said.

"What?" Andy asked, looking confused.

"But you must stay," Robin insisted, turning around. "You must meet them!"

"Andy, I think we need to leave now!" Will insisted. "Cletus?"

"What is wrong with you?" Andy demanded, finally coming to. She turned towards WIll, hands on her hips. "You've been... weird, ever since we got here."

"Yeah, man," Cletus said, backing Andy up. "Not cool!"

"Look, this might be a trap," Will insisted. There were the sounds of several people moving towards them through the woods, the crack of twigs underfoot and a few indistinct words said back and forth between them.

"Sam wouldn't have sent us here if it was a trap!" Andy fumed.

"Sam isn't here!" Will shouted. "Stop pretending like she's around! You've been following her orders this entire quest, haven't you? Can't you just stand up for yourself for once and listen to reason?"

Will didn't know why he'd said it, and he felt terrible as soon as he had. Andy looked furious, like he'd just slapped her across the face. Cletus shifted nervously, his face pale and eyes flickering nervously from Andy to Will and back again. The approaching voices had gone silent, like they'd heard the disturbance.

"Robin, are you okay?" a voice called. Andy relaxed her stance and looked into the woods incredulously.

"Thalia?" she asked.

"The one and only!" Thalia called back. She appeared from between the trees, looking slightly concerned. She immediately went to Robin and clapped him on the back, looking over the others warily.

"Thalia, it's us!" Will said, stepping forward. "Will, Will Solace! And Cletus and Andromache! Don't you remember us?"

Thalia studied their faces and then smiled. "Of course I do. What are you doing here with Robin?"

"You... you know him?" Will asked, disbelieving.

"Yeah I do!" Thalia smiled, ruffling Robin's hair and causing the feather entangled there to be even more tangled. Robin was grinning like a fool, pleased to see so many visitors. Other Hunters were emerging now, and the white wolves who were their companions. The immortal girls nodded to Robin, more friendly than Will had ever seen them with anyone of the male sex. They looked over Will with as much distaste as if he were a piece of gum they'd found under their seat. Andy waved at one or two of the girls who smiled back. Cletus was overlooked like so much air.

"Well, what have you got for me today?" Robin asked, looking eager. "It's been so long! What's been happening out there?"

"Oh, a war and all that," Thalia shrugged. "Actually, we're looking for a friend."

"A war?" Robin asked, astonished.

"He didn't know about the war?" Will asked, furious. "And he didn't fight!"

"Which friend?" Robin inquired. A few of the Hunters wandered over to Andy and started talking to her. One or two went to the table of books and began thumbing through them.

"A boy called Perseus Jackson," Thalia said. "A son of Poseidon."

"He doesn't know Percy?" Will asked. "Where the Hades has he been the past five years?"

"No one by that name has come to the forest," Robin said, shaking his head. "But the other day I found large tracks, the size of my hand or more, outside the boundaries on the south side."

"Look, I'm sorry Robin, but we don't have time to track some monsters..." Thalia sighed.

"That's too bad," Robin said, shaking his head with a small, knowing smile. "Because they will lead you to a clue." Thalia looked sharply at him.

"What sort of clue?" she demanded.

"That is all I was told," Robin shrugged, looking truly apologetic. Will would've bet anything it was an act the other boy was putting on. Robin took Thalia's arm and drew her aside, whispering softly to her. She looked troubled, and shook her head. Robin seemed to droop slightly and Thalia put a gentle hand on his shoulder and said something else. He nodded, then turned back when one of the Hunters called for him.

"Robin, what have you got for us?" she demanded teasingly.

"That depends on what you for me," Robin said, lightly bounding to her side. The girl laughed and pulled a chocolate bar out of her pocket. Robin looked at it hopefully and the girls all laughed, like he was an amusing puppy begging for a treat.

Will was stunned that the Hunters were so accepting of the boy, or any boy for that matter. They usually treated members of the male sex as though they were pond scum, or worse. But Robin... they acted like he was their _brother_.

"For such a price," Robin thoughtfully considered. "I have four eagle-fletched arrows." The Hunter immediately handed over the chocolate and Robin went to the bag of arrows. Pulling it out from under the table he drew forth four of the silver arrows whose shafts were set with golden feathers.

"What would seven turkey cost?" another girl, possibly Phoebe, asked.

"What do you carry?" Robin asked. Apparently this was jerk speech for "what have you got in your pockets?" because Phoebe produced a Little Debbie Snack cake. Robin wanted two of them for the seven arrows, so she had to fork over a second snack cake.

"Does he always trade arrows for sweets?" Will asked Thalia. She snorted and then proceeded to ignore him.

"Can I interest anyone in swan feathers?" Robin asked, pulling out a few dozen shafts of pure white feathers.

"What are they good for?" asked one of the girls who had long red hair braided over one shoulder.

"Grace, serenity," Robin said, twirling the feather. "They can bring calm to an archer before her shot. Do not be fooled by rumors that they bring love, for the swan has ever been the bird of virgins."

The swan feathers sold out quickly for various prices. It seemed that Robin would take anything - chocolates, pens, gum, extra buttons. He always asked what the girl had, she would answer, Robin would accept whatever the price without questioning if the girl was lying. He was too trusting, Will thought. An utter fool.

"What's this one?" A Hunter with dark hair and slanted dark eyes knelt down and picked up a black feather.

"Raven," Robin said. "I don't think you'll want it. The raven is for death and demons, and it is sacred Apollo." Robin smiled like it was a joke, but the girl dropped the feather as though it was venomous.

"Perhaps our friend would like it, though," Robin said, picking up the shaft and twirling it between his fingers. He offered it to Will. For the first time, the Hunters focused their attention on Will; their gazes were sharp, disgusted, and distrustful. Will took the feather and ran his finger along it.

"How much?" he asked.

"Free," Robin smiled at him, but his hazel eyes were searching. "I wouldn't charge a son of Apollo for what is rightly his."

"What about me?" Andy asked, standing among the Hunters of Artemis as though she were one of their own.

"Well, what lacks in your life?" Robin asked, his eyes sparkling.

"I... I dunno," Andy said, suddenly looking embarrassed.

"Perhaps a sparrow," Robin said, pulling out a somewhat drab feather. "She has many lessons for us. For instance, small though she may be, she is certainly powerful. We do not have to have the loudest voice in order to be heard." He placed the feather in Andy's hand and closed his fingers over it. Will tensed as Robin leant forward a whispered something else in Andy's ear. She looked amazed and gazed at the dull brown feather with wonder.

A/N: Footnotes:

Adonis: a handsome youth loved by Aphrodite


	7. 7 Andy

Andy brushed her fingers along the edge of the sparrow feather. Robin had told her that some poets claimed noble Hector, tamer of horses, had called his wife Andromache - Andy's namesake - his little sparrow. Helen, so beautiful and flashy, had been a peacock, but Princess Andromache was Hector's little sparrow.

"How long have you known Robin?" Andy asked Thalia.

"Since I became a Hunter," the girl said. "He makes nearly all our arrows."

"Yeah, what's with the eagle/turkey arrows?" Andy said. If you asked her, those were totally strange birds to put side by side. It didn't help that every time she thought of turkeys she pictured first a harpy, then Thanksgiving dinner.

"As far as I understand it, eagle arrows always fly fast," Thalia explained. "And turkey arrows fly straight. The goose feathered ones are the best, though - I almost don't want to tell you what they do." Andy looked at her expectantly and Thalia laughed. "They pursue their target," she said. "No matter how they dodge, the arrow won't stop until it's hit them. Robin knows the magic of all the birds. He wears that robin feather for luck."

"How... how old is he?" Andy asked. She could not help but wonder, for who lived in the forest, wore a tunic, and spoke so strangely? Certainly no one born in _her_ century. "Is he a god?"

"No, he's a half-blood," Thalia said. "But... I know what you mean. He... he hasn't changed much since I met him. But Ari might know. Ari!"

A girl with olive-toned skin and dark hair turned at Thalia's call. Robin was gone, showing Phoebe and a few of the Hunters the tracks he'd found.

"Ari, how long have you known Robin?" Thalia asked the girl. Ari looked thoughtful, as though counting back the years.

"About two hundred years," she decided. "But he's been in the forest longer than that." Thalia and Andy looked at each other, mute with a mixture of denial, horror, and wonder.

"Has he changed since then?" Thalia asked. "Does he look older?"

"No," Ari frowned. "Well, maybe he's aged about a year."

"Perhaps he was granted immortality," Thalia muttered.

"Robin?" Ari asked. "No, he's a mortal. But... its the forest. Look, you aren't going to tell him, are you?" Ari asked, suddenly looking frightened.

"Why not?" Thalia asked, jaw set.

"Look, I don't think Robin knows," Ari insisted. "It's like... it's like he still thinks its the 1700's out there. Think about it, we Hunters are the only ones he sees, besides his mother. I don't think he knows how fast the rest of the world is moving compared to this forest."

"You mean... the forest slows down time?" Will asked, apparently having been eavesdropping on their conversation. Ari glared at him, practically spitting poison with her eyes and even Thalia seemed slightly disgusted by his behavior.

"I don't know exactly," Thalia said, deigning to speak to Will. "But I do know that whenever we leave the forest, the same amount of time has passed outside as within."

"Good," Will said shortly, meeting Andy's eye. She knew what he was thinking: _If the forest slows down time, how long have we actually been here?_

A/N: Footnotes:

Is that fact about sparrows referring to Andromache actually true? No, but it's a pretty sentiment.


	8. 8 Robin

After Robin was finished trading arrows and feathers, he divided up his prizes. Buttons, needles, thread, and other useful bits were tucked into a box to be used later. Food, wrapped in the strange fabric the Hunters called "plastic", was hoarded in the very back of the food stock. Robin was a little like a magpie in his hoarding tendencies, always tempted to gather sweets and eat them over time. The Hunters did not visit as much as they used to, so Robin had to make this hoard of sweets last.

Thalia and her Hunters would soon be on their way, following the tracks Robin had seen at the edge of the forest. Now Robin simply had to find a way to send the demigods back to their camp. They couldn't stay in the green wood for much longer without there being consequences. The Hunters would never notice, but these mortals might.

"Robin?" he turned, smiling - but the smile quickly faded to puzzlement as he saw Thalia, Andy, and Will standing there looking serious.

"What troubles you?" he asked, standing.

"Robin, I don't mean to be rude," Andy said, in a way that clearly indicated she was about to be incredibly rude. "But how old are you?"

Robin opened his mouth, then closed it again. "Years... do not make much sense here," he said instead.

"Because we think you might be really, really old," Andy said.

"Does that bother you?" he asked, tilting his head to the side. He didn't see why it should, but the three looked upset.

"Robin, do you know what year it is?" Thalia asked, trying to sound helpful. When he said no, they told him.

"That is later than I thought," he said, but still couldn't see their point.

"Well, doesn't that make you wonder - since you're mortal and all - why you're still alive?" Thalia said.

"The green wood..." Robin started, but then shook his head. "No, it's is best if you sit." They obeyed, even the boy Will son of Apollo.

"I lived on Parnassus for a long time," Robin recounted. "Until I was eighteen. Then I grew restless. I wished to leave and explore the world, meet other demigods like myself. My mother did not wish it. She had lost her first son, her beloved Orpheus, and feared losing me as well. That is why she chose to raise me, against all customs dictating otherwise. So it was arranged that I go to live in a forest near Parnassus. My mother and her sisters had set up magical protections around it. Nothing that wished to harm me and no monsters can cross the boundaries of the forest. I understand your Camp Half-Blood is like this?"

They nodded.

"My mother also put one extra protection in place: no maenads would be able to cross into the green wood. Maenads, the female followers of Dionysus, were the ones who killed my brother Orpheus. Then, to make sure she would never lose another son, my mother asked Zeus to bless the forest."

Robin took a deep breath, then continued.

"This is no ordinary wood. It exists in all places at all times. But because it is in all times, it is timeless. Therefore, though I can be killed, I will live forever if I do not leave the green wood. But I must ask that I accompany you, Andy and Will, back to your camp."

"What?" Andy asked, incredulous. "But you might die!"

"Yes, but that is a risk all demigods must face," Robin agreed. "And Thalia is not the only one missing a friend." Will and Andy looked at him expectantly, but Thalia simply looked sad and sympathetic, keeping her blue eyes down.

"She, too, wandered into these woods," Robin said. He could still remember that day, it had not seemed so long ago...

_It was a hot day, but coolness could be found in the shadows of the forests. The scent of the flowers was thick and cloying in the heat, encouraging sleep. No wind ruffled the treetops, all was very still. Even the bees seemed to have gone to sleep in their lily beds, and the lizards dozed contented on their stones. And in that stillness, Robin dozed beneath a willow tree by the cold, silent waters of a stream. _

_A sound broke the stillness, like a disturbed deer who has suddenly been flushed out of the thicket. Robin opened his eyes and saw, through the willow branches, a truly breathtaking sight. _

_The girl was tall and slim, wearing a frothy blue gown that cascaded down past her knees. A silver circlet crowned her long, unbound fair hair. Her eyes were the color of the sky over the mountains and held a sadness that made Robin want to weep, though he did not know why. She did not wear sandals, and her feet were cut with thorns and streaked with mud. The hem of the dress was torn and bloody. As she walked, the girl wept openly. _

_Leaving his quiver and bow, Robin rose and came out from under the willow. The girl stumbled to a halt upon seeing him and looked at him tearfully. For a moment they stood in silence, a silence Robin knew he should break, but he could not. _

"Her name is Oenone," Robin said, his voice far away. "The river nymph and daughter Crebren, the river-god. She was lost, alone, and grieving. I took her in."

_She spoke little, and always softly. Robin sometimes wondered if she'd ever recover from her grief. He knew her story: oh, he knew it well! But Robin could not seem to draw her out of her sorrow. _

_It is a story well known that there was once a foolish prince named Paris. He was a prince of Troy, a city whose doom was woven in the Fates' tapestry. _

_A golden apple, perfect and pure, inscribed with the word Kallistei, "to the fairest". That one word, that one perfect golden fruit, would doom a nation. For three goddess claimed the apple for their own: Hera the queenly, Athena the wise, Aphrodite the beautiful. Zeus wisely refused to judge the contest of vanity, but instead gave the apple to Paris, so that he might choose._

_It is a story well known that Paris, in his foolishness, chose to give the apple to Aphrodite who had promised him a beautiful wife, the most beautiful woman in all the land: Helen of Sparta. _

_She was married, this Helen of Sparta, and when Paris took her for his own there was a war between the Greeks and Trojans. _

_It is a story not well known that Helen was not the only one who was married. Paris had also been wed years ago to the nymph Oenone. He rejected her, scorned her, and left her for Helen, beautiful Helen of Sparta._

_Oenone lingered in the hills outside of Troy. For ten years and more she lingered while inside the walls Paris shared his bed with another woman and the Greeks pounded on the city gates._

_Then Paris was hurt, cut by the poisoned arrows shot from the bow of Philoktetes the Greek. Paris's patron, Aphrodite, brought him from the battlefield into the hills outside of Troy. She laid his body beside Oenone's stream and begged the nymph to heal him with her magic powers. Oenone refused._

_Paris died beside her stream, in the arms of the river nymph. Here, legend says that of all the men and women in Troy and Greece and all the known world, only Oenone grieved whole-heartedly for his death._

_Now, some say that Oenone, in remorse and sorrow, threw herself upon Paris' funeral pyre. Others say she jumped off a cliff or she hanged herself or she leapt from the very walls of Troy. Only Robin knew the truth._

_The green wood clearly at some point in time and space touched the woods outside of Troy. Oenone, stumbling from the corpse of Paris, began to wander, lost in the forest. For her, it was as though upon leaving Paris she came upon Robin. _

_They never spoke of that day. They didn't need to. _

"You think she might be at our camp," Will said.

"I am afraid that, being left alone to her own devices, Oenone might harm herself," Robin said. "I must find her and, if she allows it, return her here to the green wood. It is safe here, away from grief and death. I do not know why she left."

"Why would she harm herself?" Andy asked, confused. Robin looked at her solemnly, not answering.

"Oh," Andy said, suddenly seeing. Yes, it is difficult when one like Andy Tiber, full of life and promise, saw how one like Oenone, full of sadness and guilt, wished to end her days. Robin knew gods were not truly immortal; they could end their life if they knew how.

"Just so. Will you let me go?" Robin asked.

"Of course," Andy said immediately. Robin waited for a moment, looking at Will. The son of Apollo didn't not meet his eyes, but he seemed distinctly unhappy about the whole thing. Then Robin turned to look at Thalia.

"It's not for me to give you permission, Robin," the Hunter said, shaking her head.

"But you do not wish me to leave," he guessed.

"I'll admit it doesn't make me happy," she said. "Gods know what will happen once you set foot outside. All your years could catch up to you and you might die."

"I do not think that will happen," Robin said, shaking his head. "You have to understand this: though I live each day as you do, they seem shorter to me. I believe I am eighteen still, or possibly a few years older."

Thalia nodded. Of all people, she ought to understand Robin. She had been trapped in a tree for years and aged very slowly, as Robin now aged.

A/N: Footnotes (there's a lot today!):

Orpheus: the son of Calliope, he was torn apart by maenads when he refused to sing joyful songs for them (alternatively, for refusing to worship Dionysus). Said to have a beautiful voice that could charm wild beasts.

Maenads: mortal women who devoted themselves to the worship of Dionysus. They did so by drinking and dancing until they were in a frenzy; sometimes in this state of madness they would attack young men and kill them.

Oenone: everything mentioned in the above story is true. She can be found in the _Posthermica_ and in a beautiful poem by Tennyson. The only thing not clear is how she killed herself (the most likely options are mentioned above) or what type of nymph she was: water (naiad) or mountain (oread). For the sake of this story, she is a naiad.

The Contest of Vanity: hmm, I'm assuming everyone's heard the story, besides everything you need to know is above

Philoktetes: friend of Hercules. When the great hero died, he gave his bow and quiver of poisoned arrows to Philoktetes. It was later prophesied that Troy could not be taken without these arrows. Paris did, in fact, meet his death because of one.

A note on godly suicide: I've only ever heard of it being possible among naiads who, by drowning themselves, are able to erase their existence.


	9. 9 Will

Will managed to convince Andy that they needed to leave as soon as possible. Thalia and her Hunters - who had still refused to speak to Will or Cletus - left to follow the trail Robin had left them; the girls were all talking about huge wolves as they disappeared into the trees. Will was impatient, waiting for Robin to pack.

The boy went slowly around his camp, gathering things together. Will almost began to believe that Robin traveled on a different, slower time frame. Robin took a satchel of ordinary, non-silver arrows that had the same hodge-podge of fletching he'd used on the Hunter's shafts. Then he moved to the table and began picking up books.

"Uh, Robin, I don't think you can carry all those with us," Andy said.

"Oh, you'd be surprised," he smiled enigmatically. He picked up the _Odyssey _and the _Iliad _as well as the _Theogony_ of Hesiod. Robin's hands hovered over another book, one whose title wasn't written in Greek. Then he picked it up as well and added it to the pile. Robin pulled a slim wallet out from one of his pockets and opened it; picking up the _Iliad_, he inserted one corner of the heavy volume into the wallet.

"That's not going to fit," Will told him. But somehow - Will blinked and missed it - the book was gone and Robin was pushing _Theogony_ in after it.

"The wallet of Perseus," Robin said. "It can fit almost the same amount as a gorgon's head. Four books might stretch it a little, but it will still be light as a feather." Robin followed the _Theogony_ with the _Odyssey_. He struggled with the last book, but managed to squeeze it in to the already impossible space and handed the slightly fat wallet to Andy. She felt its weight and gave a low, impressed whistle. Robin pocketed the wallet with a smile and pulled his quiver over his back.

"Robin, you should know that most people don't wear, um, _that_ anymore," Cletus said, gesturing all up and down Robin's body. "They haven't since, oh, 1705?"

Robin looked down at his clothes, from the strange feathered collar to his tall boots. With a slow wave of his hand, like he was brushing mud from his clothes, Robin blurred his clothes for a moment. When they came back into focus, he was wearing tennis shoes, jeans, and a forest green hooded sweatshirt that had brass-colored studs lining its pockets. Will realized with surprise that Robin had changed his clothes to match a mixture of Will's and Andy's clothing. Under his jacket, Robin wore a brownish green shirt; printed on it in a ray descending from the collar were the imprints of the feathers Robin had worn. The robin feather in his hair still remained.

"Better?" he asked.

"Much," Andy agreed, a little too warmly for Will's taste.

Robin pulled the satchel full of arrows over one shoulder and looked around. "Where did I leave Asteriavapslegei?" he asked.

"Come again?" Cletus frowned.

"My bow, Star-shooter," Robin explained. "Ah, here it is." Reclaiming the longbow, he looked at them all, ready to depart.

Suddenly, Will sensed that they were doing something that was wrong. Robin shouldn't leave his forest. He belonged here. No amount of modern clothes could change that. And Will wasn't so sure that Robin was right in his belief that no harm would come of stepping out of its bounds.

Apparently Andy was feeling the same thing. "Are you sure about this, Robin?" she asked.

"Yes," he said, suddenly serious. "I must."

Dusk was falling, but Robin led them out of the green wood without fail or pause. He seemed to know exactly where he was going, like an invisible trail guided him. As they went, the woods were strangely silent just as before they had been strangely loud. It was almost as though the animals and wind were holding their breath, waiting to see if Robin would really leave.

When they came to the boundary, where Robin's wood met the Adirondack Park, Robin stopped. Andy stepped into the dark forest beyond, and Cletus followed, casting a sidelong glance at Robin. Will waited until Robin steeled himself and set foot over the invisible line.

"You weren't sure, were you?" Andy asked him.

"No," Robin said, but he looked back over his shoulder worriedly, as though doubting his decision.

"You must really miss her, this Oy-no-nay," Andy said sadly.

"Oenone," Robin corrected with a slight smile. He turned away from the green wood and readjusted the strap of the satchel on his shoulder. "Yes, I miss her very much."

With a sort of satisfied thrill, Will realized the Robin did not return Andy's affection at all. He had only come with them to find this nymph. He also realized that Andy now knew this too, which was better for everyone involved. I mean, I don't want Andy to get hurt, Will thought. It has nothing to do with me.

By the time they got back to the car it was almost dark. They took a vote and the unanimous decision was to push on and try to get to camp by the next morning. Andy expressed concern that Will had not slept well, he should rest, but he promised to stop as soon as he felt too tired. Robin, of course, couldn't drive and didn't seem to have any idea what a car was.

They climbed in, Robin taking the back seat with Cletus and clearing a little space amid the empty bags of chips and cookies to sit down. He seemed fascinated by the bright colored wrappers and the crinkly sound that they made. Will started up the car while Andy picked at some crackers. After a while, she fell asleep and her limp hands spilled the crackers all over the floor of the van.

Soon, Will heard light snoring in the back seat. With a quick glance in his review mirror, he saw that Cletus's face was pressed against the window, his open and snoring mouth misting up the glass. He couldn't tell if Robin, whose face was turned away, was asleep or not.

Determined to return to camp with their discouraging news as soon as possible, Will pressed on until, finally reaching Albany, he was forced to give in and park at a rest stop just outside of town.

Will parked the van and lowered the windows. A cool breeze poured through the narrow openings; there was a subtle sound in the backseat, as though someone had moved slightly. Will looked back over his shoulder and saw Robin twisting in his seat as well, straining to look out one of the windows.

"Sleep, Will son of Pythian Apollo," Robin said, catching Will's eye. "I will stay awake and keep watch."

"No, no I don't mind staying up," Will said quickly. Robin looked at him curiously.

"I believe you are tired," the other boy said slowly. "If you rest, we might make better time."

"Well that's just it, innit?" Will muttered under his breath. "I'm not going to get any rest." But if Robin heard, he made no sign and Will resignedly reclined his seat and turned up his ipod.

He awoke seven hours later in a cold sweat. Robin's hand was on his shoulder, but it gently withdrew once his eyes snapped open. Robin looked at him with a concerned smile before turning and shaking Andy awake as well.

"It is dawn," Robin told her. "In a few hours we will reach this camp of yours." Andy sat up, blinking the sleep from her eyes, which focused unsteadily on Will.

"You okay?" she asked Will. He nodded, rubbing his hand along the back of his neck.

"Wha'?" Cletus asked as Robin shook him awake. "Breakfast?"

"Maybe not," Will said. Andy nodded and stretched as best as she could in the cramped space of the car. She opened the door and tumbled out of the car, her legs apparently collapsing beneath her. Will struggled to shove his door open but Robin had already leapt lightly over Cletus and out of the car. He bent down and offered his hand to Andy, who took it and tried to stand. By the time Will got there, Robin had put his other arm around Andy's waist and lifted her to her feet.

"Perhaps we should stay here a few moments longer, to stretch our legs," Robin said. "Then we can move on."

"Andy's the leader, so she'll decide," Will snapped. He was exhausted after yet another nightmare-riddled sleep and chagrined he had not been there to catch Andy.

"I think Robin's right," Andy said. "Let's take turns walking around."

"Wait, not alone," Will said. "We'll have to go in pairs. Just in case."

"Right. Robin come with me," Andy said. "You'll have to help me walk." Robin looked at Will questioningly, but wrapped his arm tighter around Andy's waist and helped her limp along beside him.

A/N: Footnotes:

Pythian Apollo: one of Apollo's epithets, it describes him as the slayer of Python


	10. 10 Robin

"Out of curiosity, how was your journey up to the green wood?" Robin asked as he helped Andy limp away from the van.

"Well, nothing tried to kill us, so that's a first," Andy grinned. Robin gave a soft crow of laughter.

"We did run across something odd at a restaurant," Andy said. She fished Polydorus's note out of her pocket. Taking the paper, Robin read it quickly. He stopped and Andy stumbled to a halt beside him.

"What's up?" she asked.

_O, spare the dead, nor let thy hold hands do sacrilege and sin! I, Trojan-born, was kin of thine. This blood is not of trees. Haste from this murderous shore, this land of greed. O, I am Polydorus! Haste away!_

"Robin?" Andy asked, gripping his shoulder. "What's wrong? Did you know him?"

"When was this written?" he asked.

"Uh, about forty years ago," Andy said, biting her lip.

"Then I do not know him," Robin said, forcing a smile. "But may I keep it?"

"Sure. It doesn't mean anything to me," Andy shrugged. Robin carefully stowed the paper away in one of his pockets.

"How is your leg?" Robin asked. Andy tested it and winced.

"Better."

"Shall we?" Robin asked, offering her his arm. She smiled slightly and took it; Robin resolutely turned back towards the van, where Will was still watching them with jealous eyes.

Will stalked away as soon as they reached the van and Cletus nervously followed. Robin was far too preoccupied to notice, his fingers still brushing against the words tucked away in his pocket. Andy leaned against the side of the van, arms crossed. Robin carefully seated himself out of her line of sight before pulling out both the mysterious note and his magical wallet.

Opening the wallet, he took out the only non-Greek epic he had brought: the _Aeneid. _Flipping it open to book 3, line 22 Robin began to read.

He didn't really need to read. He knew the great epics by heart. But to see the similarities between the note and the epic written on paper was chilling.

- _I, Polydorus, always knew history to repeat itself - _So he had already guessed his fate.

- _I have uncovered a great secret, something that may be the doom of us all._ - Yes, if Calliope was right, then the secret Polydorus had discovered might indeed be their doom... or their salvation. It's funny how those two always seemed to cross, Robin thought wryly.

_I should have listened when they told me to avoid the land south of Hudson Valley. I fear I shall never return home. They are coming for me._

- _Haste from this murderous shore, this land of greed... Haste away! - _

Robin shivered, as though a snake had slithered over his grave. He had not been there for the war his mother had told him of, but he had practically lived through the last Great War. The war that nearly destroyed the known world. The world the first Polydorus had known.

Robin looked around the stop with tired eyes. This world was too fast for him; it whirled around in a chaotic, blinding blue. This world was too bright for him; its harsh lights speared his eyes ruthlessly. He was used to the stillness of the green wood and the shadows that cloaked him from unfriendly eyes. Now he found that he'd waltzed into what was very likely another war.

And what made matters worse was that he had no idea where Oenone was, or even where she would go.

Will got them back to camp by mid-morning. His eyes were bloodshot and it made Robin wonder if the other boy had had nightmares last night, or if he'd slept at all. Robin himself was silent, pensive, but whenever someone spoke to him he smiled and nodded, the feather in his hair bobbing slightly.

By the time they got back to camp, the van was trashed with wrappers and crumbs. Andy jumped out of the car and skipped up the slope, tugging Robin along after her by the hand. He laughed and obligingly followed.

"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood!" Andy said as they crested the slope. The green fields were laid out below them, occasionally dotted by the occasional greek building and orange shirt. "The only safe place for demigods."

Robin gazed at Andy sadly, wondering if she knew how false that statement was. But Andy turned back quickly, and her brilliant smile faltered as she caught the look on Robin's face.

"Robin...?" she asked, but the boy interrupted her quickly

"Do my eyes deceive, or is that the golden fleece?" Robin asked, pointing at the shiny metallic skin draped on the tree. Andy blinked, and followed his line of sight.

"Yes, Percy brought it back a few years ago," Andy nodded.

"Perseus son of Poseidon again," Robin shook his head ruefully. "I wish I could have met him. Perhaps I still will."

"Who knows, maybe he's already back," Andy said, stepping down the slope. Cletus crossed the boundary as well and went down the slope towards the Big House, his empty food bag swinging lightly from his shoulder. Will followed after him, leaving Robin alone on the crest with his longbow Star-shooter.

"Come on, Robin, you have to meet Chiron," Andy said, beckoning him forward. Robin smiled broadly and stepped over the boundary. No thunder rumbled and the dragon coiled around the trunk of the tree did not attack, so Robin supposed he was as welcome in the camp as any of the others..

When they were halfway to the massive blue farmhouse that dominated the camp, Robin could see a white centaur on the porch looking towards them. Andy waved and the centaur raised a hand in greeting.

"That's Chiron," Andy told Robin. "The activities director." Cletus got to the porch first and said something to the centaur, who looked at Robin sharply.

Andy and Robin climbed the stairs and Chiron extended his hand to the boy.

"I must admit, I did not expect someone like you," Chrion said. "Where exactly have you been the past eighteen years?"

"The same place I've dwelled the last two hundred and fifty years," Robin answered, shaking his hand. Chiron stared at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Robin's home is special," Andy said. "It..."

"Perhaps we may speak separately," Robin suggested to Chiron. "Our friends are tired and in need of rest. What I have to tell you they have already heard."

As soon as Will, Cletus, and Andy left - stumbling off to their respective cabins - Robin nodded cordially to Chiron.

"I have lied," Robin admitted.

"And what lie have you told?" the centaur asked.

"That they have already heard what I have to tell you," he said. "For I must speak with you about Polydorus and the other Romani." Chiron stiffened and glared at Robin.

"How do you know about... I am not permitted to speak of that."

"Even to someone who knows all about them already?" Robin asked. "I have been gone for more years than I can fully comprehend, but my mother has seen fit to bestow this piece of information upon me. I can only wonder why?" Chiron did not answer and Robin nodded.

"You do not need tell me," he said agreeably.

"Is it true what she said?" Chiron asked abruptly. "You know the things that were and the things that will be and the things that have been before?"

"Who said that about me?" Robin inquired, leaning on Star-shooter.

"Kivese."

"She is quoting Homer," Robin smiled. "His _Iliad_. I am not a seer. But I think she hoped to reveal my nature to you. Epic poems: Calliope. Perhaps she sought to warn you, so that you would not be disappointed as Will Solace was."

"Why was Will disappointed?" Chiron asked.

"I think he was expecting someone who was a little more... well, more." Robin spread his arms out to indicate his entire self. "But please, can we not speak about the Romani?"

"There is nothing to say about them," Chiron insisted coldly.

"I think Polydorus would disagree," Robin said, pulling the note out of his pocket. Chiron took it and read over it.

"O, spare the dead, nor let thy hold hands do sacrilege and sin! I, Trojan-born, was kin of thine. This blood is not of trees. Haste from this murderous shore, this land of greed. O, I am Polydorus! Haste away!" Robin recited. Chiron looked up at him and frowned.

"You know where it is from, of course?" Robin asked. "Publius Vergilius Maro's _Aeneid_. A Roman epic." Robin picked up Star-shooter and strode to the edge of the porch. Looking out over the strawberry fields, Robin braced his arm against the rail and sighed.

"Olympus is closed. At first, it was because Zeus believed the gods to have grown to close to their half-blood children. He is also Jove, the Roman King of the Gods, and as such does not wish to have much contact with mortals. He has banned Iris-messages, visions, letters, dreams. But there is more: pride. Pride like that of Achilles, which is wrathful and terrible, the greatest flaw of gods and mortals."

Thunder rumbled, and Robin turn his face towards the clouds that were gathering on the edges of the camp.

"It started when the boy you all seek, Perseus Jackson, denied the gift of immortality. Perhaps that would have been allowed to pass by unnoticed, but first my cousin, Kivese, or as she was once known, Samantha Arlington, had also wished to deny immortality, which was not a gift but a born state. The gods were furious."

"What does this... I know all this," Chiron said.

"You wish to know what this has to do with the Romani," Robin said. "Just this: the gods may have forgiven these two grave insults in time, perhaps most already have. But now Hera of Argos has risked everything. An exchange: the Greek leader for the Roman. He is coming, very soon now. Olympus is holding its breath to see what will happen. That is all, my mother told me no more."

"How do you know all this, if Olympus is closed?" Chiron said. "If there are no dreams or Iris-messages or anything?"

"My mother inspires, which is not banned by Zeus," Robin said, the corner of his mouth twitching upwards. "There, you have said nothing about the Romani; I have done all the talking."

A/N: Footnotes:

Polydorus: yes, that is the line of the _Aeneid_ he is mentioned in

_Aenied_: an epic poem written by Publius Vergilius Maro in the late 1st century. It discusses the journey of Aeneas, the father of Rome, from his homeland of Troy

Achilles's pride: "Sing, goddess, the anger of Peleus' son Achilleus", as the _Iliad _begins. Achilles's hurt pride almost made the Greeks lose the Trojan War


	11. 11 Andy

Andy returned to the Big House where Chiron asked her to show Robin around camp.

"Where's he staying?" Andy asked.

"He's staying?" Chiron asked, surprised.

"I won't return until I find Oenone," Robin insisted.

"Well, I suppose... Sam's old room," Chiron nodded. "Now Andy, show him around. I... I have to have some time to think."

"Sure thing," Andy said, looking at Chiron curiously. When he gave no further remark, Andy took Robin's hand and dragged him down the steps and towards the Volleyball Courts. Robin followed after her, his satchel of arrows banging against his hip and the quiver bouncing on his back. Andy could tell that he could go faster than her if he wanted to, his long legs easily outpacing her shorter ones, but he instead allowed her to drag him along like a dog on a lead.

He let her lead him all over the camp, politely listening as she showed him the arts and crafts pavilion, the amphitheater, the climbing wall, the mess hall, the arena, and the armory. The only times he looked genuinely interested were when they were in the stables and on the archery range.

"Do you want to shoot a few targets?" Andy asked, seeing his interest as they watched a group from Athena's cabin practice.

"They are a little too near," Robin said, nodding to the targets.

"They're set at fifty paces!" commented one of the Athena campers, Malcolm, having overheard their conversation. Robin shrugged and the other Athena campers gained interest.

"How far can that thing shoot?" one of them asked.

"I've never really tested," Robin said. "It can split a wand to willow at one hundred paces. The name Star-shooter was not bestowed lightly." At once two of the campers ran to pick up one of the targets and move it aside. Another camper went to a tree and used her knife to cut off a long, thin switch.

"What's 'split a wand to willow'?" Andy asked, confused. The camper took the switch and pushed it into the archery range grass so that it stood straight up.

"You'll see!" Malcom grinned. "Go on, new boy!"

Robin smiled and carefully drew one of his arrows; nocking it to his string he lifted his bow and aimed. He calmly inhaled, then released the arrow with his exhale. It flew off with an angry buzz. The arrow sang towards the switch, cutting right through its center and cleaving it in half. The Athena cabin cheered and patted Robin on the back. When one offered to go retrieve the arrow, Robin shook his head and said to leave it.

"That is splitting a wand to willow," Malcom told Andy.

"What is over there?" Robin asked, nodding towards the forest.

"The woods," Malcolm said. "Never go in alone and never go unarmed. There are monsters that live in there."

"I thought monsters weren't allowed in camp," Robin said.

"No... but we keep the forest stocked," Malcolm said. "You know how it is." Clearly Robin did not know how it was, but he was spared asking when a great rending sound filled the camp. Everyone turned around and looked upwards; a chariot, bucking wildly and looking like it had been struck by lightning, hung in the sky for a moment. The winged horses pulling it were straining in their harnesses, whinnying desperately; but with an almighty crash the wheels of the chariot fell off and the chariot began to follow.

"It looks like its headed for the lake!" someone shouted, and suddenly they were all running for the lake.

Andy and Robin arrived just in time to see a boy with sopping blonde hair and a torn purple shirt getting pulled out of the lake. Another boy, dark-haired and small, was being carried up forcibly by Butch. The son of Iris dumped his burden on the ground and headed back into the water towards the pegasi, which were still tangled in their harnesses. Without a word, Robin handed Andy Star-shooter, his quiver, and satchel. He waded in after Butch and pulled out his hunting knife to help cut the pegasi loose from the leather straps. Robin whispered softly to the winged horses, who calmed noticeably and began to nuzzle him worriedly.

"Thanks man," Butch told Robin, leading one of the pegasi away. Robin grabbed the mane of the other one and followed.

"Does this happen everyday?" he asked. Butch looked at him like he was crazy and Robin shrugged. Someone else ran up and took the pegasus from Robin, cast the boy himself a curious look, and left with Butch. Robin found his way back to Andy and retrieved his belongings.

By now a girl had joined the two new boys: she had choppy brown hair and eyes that changed color whenever you looked at them.

"What is this place, why are we here, how long do we have to stay?" the blonde boy was asking.

"Jason," Annabeth said, "I promise we'll answer your questions. And Drew - " Andy totally had not noticed when the Aphrodite counselor had gotten there. She felt her stomach drop a few inches and reached out a protective arm for Robin. No way was some trumped-up, made-up daughter of the love goddess going to steal Robin... Robin wasn't there.

Andy missed the next few bits of the conversation as she looked around, trying to locate Robin. She finally saw him kneeling on the bank of the lake, leaning over the water. Some of the naiads had come to the surface and were looking up at him. He was speaking to them, gesturing to himself, then pointing back at where the river met the lake. Whatever he wanted he didn't get, because the nymphs shook their green hair and sank back into the lake. Robin stood up, looking both disappointed and relieved.

Andy went to him and punched his arm. "Can you stay still for like, five seconds?" she demanded, exasperated. "One minute you're there and the next you're gone."

"They haven't seen her," Robin said gloomily.

"Oh," Andy said lamely. She had almost forgotten the real reason Robin had come to Camp Half-Blood: his real girlfriend.

Suddenly Robin looked up at something behind Andy. She turned and saw the Latino boy had been claimed: a fiery hammer was hung over his head.

"Does this happen everyday?" Robin asked. Andy sighed and punched his arm again.

"No, silly," she said. "This only happens when new campers come."

"Then why aren't they lighting up?" Robin asked pointing at Jason and the girl.

"I don't know," Andy frowned. "But that's definitely going to be an issue." The claimed boy was jumping up and down, trying to dislodge the holographic image above his head.

"Leo, you've just been claimed - " Annabeth said calmly, like she was trying to soothe the boy.

" - By a god," Jason interrupted. "That's the symbol of Vulcan, isn't it?" Everyone turned to stare at him, even Robin. But Robin's glance was sharper and his eyes sadder.

After a while, Leo was escorted away by Will and Annabeth sent Jason with Drew to see Chiron. The daughter of Athena took charge of the girl, whose name was Piper, and the rest of the campers dispersed.

Andy turned back and saw that Robin was gone, again! Seriously, she was starting to get a little ticked off. But when Andy caught sight of the boy leaning under a tree at the edge of the woods, she couldn't help but feel terrible.

Robin looked so sad, it was amazing that he wasn't crying. A few birds sat in the trees above him, but they did not sing or do any more than flutter their wings. A mourning dove must have been among them, for she cooed consolingly.

"Robin?" Andy asked. "What's wrong?" He looked up at her and in that instant, Andy knew she should have left him alone.

"Andromache," Robin said so softly it may have just been for his ears alone. "Such a sad name." With that he stood and, leaving the satchel of arrows on the ground, went into the woods. The birds took wing and followed him. Andy stood rooted to the ground.

Robin finally returned at dinnertime after everyone had already taken their seats. Andy had taken his satchel of arrows up to the Big House and left it on Sam's bed. Leo had settled down among his Hephaestus cabinmates and Jason was sitting with the Athena cabin. Andy saw Robin appear in the shadows outside the pavilion only because she had been looking for him. He hung there for a moment, indecisive.

Andy sat at Cabin Thirteen's table by herself. Nico was gone, he nearly always was, and that left her alone. She stood up, hardly noticing how people stared, and marched over to Robin. Taking his hand, she led him back to her table and made him sit down. Andy blushed to hear the Aphrodite girls giggling, but she had made up her mind. She was giving up hope on Robin. Instead, she was going to help him find Oenone.

Robin didn't ask questions when it was their turn to scrape the best bits of their food into the bronze braziers. Instead, he threw in an entire leg of friend chicken, then raised his hands in the same invocation posture he had used when asking for inspiration.

His lips moved, but Andy couldn't hear a word he was saying. When he was finished, the flames burned just a little higher and just a little brighter.

"I found the creek," Robin told Andy as they moved back to her table. She looked at him sharply, but he shook his head.

"You don't want the nymphs in the lake or in the creek to know where she is," Andy realized.

"No, and yes," he said enigmatically. "You see, I wish someone would be able to point me in the right direction. I feel like I have even less information than Aeneas, who was told to find the land of his father's. I have been told nothing. But at the same time... tell me, have you ever read the story of Oenone?"

Andy shook her head and took a small sip of her Sprite. Robin sighed, his hazel eyes downcast as he toyed with the fries on his plate.

"It is said by the poets," he began. Andy felt a chill run up her spine. When she was younger, her father had tried taking her to Church once or twice. The way Robin said "it is said by the poets" reminded Andy irresistibly of the phrase "in accordance with the Scripture". His poets were his religion, far more than any Greek or Christian god. "That when a water nymph, any water nymph, drowns herself she not only ceases to live, it was as though she was never born. So no, I secretly hope that no body of water has seen Oenone."

"Perhaps you have heard of Juturna, or Ophelia," Robin said. "They followed this path."

"Robin, I'm so sorry," Andy said. "I really hope you find her."

"Blow O wind to where my loved one is. I'll feel her gentle touch through you and meet her beauty in the moon. These things are much for the one who loves. One can live by them alone that she and I breathe the same air and that the Earth we tread is one," Robin recited softly, toying absent-mindedly with with food on his plate.

"Is that from the _Iliad_?" Andy asked.

"No, the Ramayana, another epic poem as great in beauty and deeds as any written by a Greek," Robin said.

"Robin," Andy said, taking a deep breath. "I think you should talk to Rachel. She's the Oracle of Delphi and... she might be able to give you that hint you need." Robin turned wondering eyes at the red-haired girl who was seated at the head table. She looked back at him and winked. Andy had already talked to her.

"Right, it's time for the sing-along," Chiron announced. Everyone got up and started for the amphitheater, but Annabeth made a bee line for Robin and Andy.

"Hi, I'm Annabeth, counselor of the Athena Cabin," she said, shaking hands with Robin.

"Robin, son of Calliope," he said formally.

"Listen, I know this is kind of - well, actually totally - forward of me, but wouldn't that make your grandmother Mnemosyne, titaness of memory?"

"Yes," Robin looked surprised. "You have read the _Theogony_!"

"Yeah, well, there's this new camper, Jason, and he's lost all his memory," Annabeth said.

"Ah, I'm not sure there is much I can do, but I shall try," Robin said. "What can you tell me?"

"We've already had Clovis from the Hypnos cabin take a look," Annabeth said, leading the way back to her table. The blonde boy, Jason was still sitting there, fiddling with a fork. "He says it's not Lethe. He says Hera took his memories."

"Why would she do that?" Andy asked. Annabeth shrugged as they came to a stop by Jason.

"Jason, this is Robin," Annabeth said. "He might be able to help you, okay?"

Jason looked a little nervous, but he allowed Robin to lay his hands upon his head. Robin closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

They remained like that for a minute, Annabeth looking tense like she expected something bad to happen. But Robin just opened his eyes.

For a second, Andy saw the reflection of water in his eyes, and then fire, then they settled to a deep, dark brown. But when he blinked, they were ordinary hazel.

"Clovis is right," he said quietly. "The memories were taken by Juno."

"Who?" Andy asked.

"The Roman name for Hera," Annabeth explained. "Did you see anything?" she asked Robin. He looked at her hesitatingly.

"Only a little," he said.

Robin was a terrible liar. He caught Andy's eye and shook his head.

"Come on, Jason, we're going to miss the s'mores!" Andy said, pulling Jason to his feet and walking down to the amphitheater with him. As she did, she looked back and saw Robin and Annabeth in earnest conversation.

A/N: Footnotes:

Aeneas: he left Troy with only the directions to go West and to seek a land of his fathers. Apparently he had hundreds of ancestors and he spent a long time wandering around the Mediterranean looking for the right land.

Juturna: sister of Turnus, a water nymph who drowned herself upon her brother's death

Ophelia: a Shakespeare reference to the young lover of Hamlet, who went mad and killed herself by drowning

The Ramayana: a Hindu epic poem, traditionally ascribed to Valmiki and dating approximately to the 4th or 5th century B.C.

Mnemosyne: according to Hesiod, she is the mother of the muses and the Titaness of Memory. Lethe, the River of Forgetfulness, is at once the equal and the opposite of Mnemosyne. The Lethe is said to wipe the minds clean of any soul who wished to be reincarnated into a different life. Mnemosyne preserves memory. Those who wish to consult her as an oracle must drink first of the Lethe, then of the river which shares her name.

Water, fire, brown: the images which flash in Robin's eyes are those an initiate of Mnemosyne might see. Water for the river, fire for the torches (which shed light and truth upon the oracle), brown for the color of the Titaness's eyes.


	12. 12 Andy

Andy woke up the next morning in Cabin Thirteen. She lay in bed for a little while, the blankets pulled up to her chin.

Last night, at the sing-along, Rachel had given Jason a prophecy and a quest. Robin had yet again asked if this was "something that happened everyday" and Andy had groaned. Then she discovered that Robin had never had a s'more and she'd insisted on making him one.

When Piper had gotten the blessing of Aphrodite, Andy could just see Robin biting his tongue so that he wouldn't ask it _that_ happened everyday.

The interior of Cabin Thirteen was dark, its walls solid black. There were no windows, but if there had been you could have bet every drachma in your pocket that they would have had heavy black velvet drapes hanging over them. The only real light came from the green Greek fire that burned nonstop. There were very few beds, and every single one of them had black blankets and black satin pillow cases. Skulls were carved everywhere.

Andy would have hated it. But there was one thing that brought light to the cabin, for Hades was also the god of riches. Rubies, emeralds, diamonds, every precious stone that was mined from under the earth were set into the walls here. They reflected the Greek fire into a hundred different colors, adding both light and color to the otherwise dark room. Andy didn't love the price of the jewels so much as their beauty.

Nico's bed was empty and the blankets were tucked in neatly; over his bed hung a picture of a girl with black eyes and dark brown hair. Her skin had an olive tone to it, like Nico's, and she was smiling shyly at the camera. This was Bianca, Nico's dead sister. Nico also had a couple of posters up for bands he liked. Andy had never heard of them and didn't really care.

Andy's bunk had a picture of her dad hanging on the wall and a poster from CSI, her favorite TV show. Also, there was a picture of Andy, Sam, and Cletus. Sam looked tired but pleased; one arm was wrapped around her Andy's shoulders, the other snuck behind Cletus to give him rabbit ears.

Finally deciding she could not put it off much longer, Andy got up. She stumbled around the cabin and eventually found her way into the shower. Turning on the water, Andy yelped as it blasted her with freezing water. She turned it to hot, and when she was finished turned it back to freezing before shutting it off so that she would be able to wake up tomorrow.

Stumbling around the cabin, Andy collected and put on bits of clothing. She took a comb to her hair and tamed it back into something resembling... well, at least it looked like hair and not a hedgehog's nest.

The breakfast conch sounded and Andy perked up visibly. She wasn't allowed to have coffee, but food woke her up just as much as coffee woke up other people. She ran to the door and slammed it open, effectively running into Robin and knocking him down.

"Does this happen everyday?" Robin groaned, sprawled on the ground.

"I might have helped you up if you hadn't said that," Andy retorted. "And yes, see how the other campers are avoiding my cabin?"

Robin strained his head around, making no move to get up. "Oh. Look at that, they are," he remarked. Looking back at her he said, "It is time for breakfast."

"Yeah it is!" Andy said, leaping over him and running to the dining pavilion.

She was already seated and digging into a bowl of Lucky Charms before she realized that Robin wasn't there yet. Andy finished the cereal, a blueberry muffin, a serving of bacon, and some scrambled eggs on a toasted bagel but Robin still wasn't there. When she was quite finished with breakfast and Robin had still failed to make an appearance, Andy went looking for him.

"Hey, have you seen Robin?" No one had. Not even Annabeth, who was getting ready to go off looking for Percy. Thinking he may have tried to find Rachel and gotten a prophecy, Andy went up to Rachel's cave but he wasn't there either. She was just going to go look in the Big House when she heard muted voices coming from between the trees.

Sneaking around and creeping through the shadows, Andy found her way to the edge of a clearing. Robin sat in the exact center of it, Will Solace sat opposite him.

"Nightmares, you say?" Robin was asking.

"Only I can't remember them when I wake up," Will nodded. "I heard what you did... or tried to do for Jason. Do you think you could help me?" Robin nodded and held out his hands. Will, after hesitating a moment, took them and closed his eyes.

Andy watched silently as Will stiffened, almost as though he had received an electrical shock. Then he relaxed; Andy could almost see the knotted muscles of his back loosening as his face settled into a calm, trance-like state.

After a while, Robin opened his eyes. Andy, who had been waiting for it, saw them flash warm brown before settling back to their original state. Will opened his eyes as well and looked troubled.

"Now do you remember?" Robin asked him. Will nodded slowly.

"Your father risked a great deal, sending you those dreams," Robin said. "That is why he wiped your memory clean of them after each one; he didn't want to get you into trouble. Now all you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to you."

"But what can I do?" But Robin merely shook his head sadly.

"My gift lies in memories and inspiration, not in prophecy, son of Apollo." It was a pointed comment, and Will seemed to understand.

"Thank you," Will said, standing up and offering Robin his hand. The boy took it and rose as well.

"The pleasure is mine," Robin said. "Now, do you think your brothers and sisters would be interested in trading for my arrows?"

Will laughed and slung an arm around Robin's shoulders. "I'm sure we can bully them into it," he said. Andy watched suspiciously; since when had Robin and Will become so chummy? And what were Will's nightmares about?


	13. 13 Robin

Robin stood among a great crowd, the entire Apollo cabin and many of the Athena campers, and traded arrows with them for anything they had in their pockets. He laughed with them and carefully explained the qualities of each arrow as he passed them out. Andy arrived at the edge of the crowd at the same time Rachel did.

Robin had thus far only sparingly given out his feathers, which were more magical and more rare than his arrows. But when Rachel came up to him, he put his fingers in the bag and considered what feather to give her.

"I do not think an arrow for you, oh Oracle," he told her. "But perhaps the blackbird's gift of omen-telling." He handed her a black feather that was tipped with red and she took it, smiling. Rachel looked down at the feather, then closed her eyes as she suddenly swooned.

Two of the Apollo campers caught her and helped her sit on the grass. Green mist stated to swirl around Rachel; she opened her eyes and they glowed emerald green. When she spoke, it sounded like the hissing whisper of snakes:

"_Feathered child of the muse_

_Seeking water children's news_

_Set the virgin's statue right_

_Like a homing dove's pure flight."_

On the last word, Rachel collapsed backwards, but the two Apollo's campers caught her and carried her away to the Big House.

"So it does happen everyday," Robin muttered.

"Someone need to tell Chiron," Will said, looking somber. "Robin's been issued a quest."

Chiron was sent for and, though several of the Athena and Apollo campers had dispersed, the crowd around Robin was steadily growing larger as news of the quest spread across the camp.

"What happened?" Chiron asked, trotting up.

"Rachel gave Robin a prophecy," Andy told him.

"What was it?"

"Feathered child of the muse/ Seeking water children's news/ Set the virgin's statue right/ Like a homing dove's pure flight," Robin recited. The rhythm of it was like poetry, and one thing Robin was good at was memorizing poetry.

"Seems fairly straight forward," Chiron mused. "The feathered child of the muse who is seeking water children's news is obviously you. The virgin can either refer to Athena or Artemis..."

"Or Hestia!" someone reminded him.

"Or Hestia," he agreed. "But what I don't understand is the homing dove. Are you supposed to bring an Aphrodite camper with you?"

"I could go," one of them, Robin thought she was called Drew, volunteered immediately, looking at Robin as though he was a piece of meat.

"No, I think it means something else," Robin said. "Homing dove, that is just a homing pigeon. Do you know about homing pigeons?"

"Yeah, don't they, um, home?" a Hephaestus camper said.

"They always return home," an Athena camper explained. "If you put food at one location and their home at the other, they can be trained to carry messages back and forth."

"They do not home," Robin said quietly. Everyone turned to look at him. "If you separate a carrier pigeon from his mate, he will fly back to her. He will stop at nothing, cross thousands of miles in a few days, that he might be with her again. That is why it is called "pure flight", because it is done purely out of love."

The campers looked uncomfortable, but Andy and Will had looks of dawning recognition across their face.

"Someone captured my Oenone," Robin said. "One of the virgin goddesses took her. They wished for their statue to be righted, so they took Oenone and placed her near their statue, knowing I would come if only to find her."

"That is so romantic!" the Aphrodite girls gushed.

"Both Artemis and Athena have statues," Chiron said. "Artemis's was lost once, it fell off of mount Olympus, so Apollo sent a hero to rescue it."

"So it's definitely Artemis's statue," Will said.

"But where is it?" Andy asked.

"South," Robin said. "Far to the South."

"How do you know?" someone asked.

"The same way a dove knows the way home," he smiled. All of the Aphrodite campers sighed, "Awwww! That's so cute!"

"That just leaves two questions," Chiron said. "How will you get there and who will you take?"

"I'll come," Andy said. "I'll help you find Oenone." Robin smiled at her; he was glad she knew the real reason he had taken this task, but even more glad that she wanted to help him reunite with the nymph. Robin had been worried that Andy was attracted to him, but he could not love her in return because his heart belonged to Oenone. Andy's offer to come was really her was of acknowledging that Robin belonged to another woman.

"I guess I'll come," Will volunteered. "I mean, I owe you."

"Thank you, Will," Robin said. "But I believe I know a way south, and it is not a child of Apollo who provides it."

A/N: Footnotes:

Homing doves (pigeons): as far as I can tell, the Athena camper is actually right about the behaviors of these birds. Robin's suggestion of mates seeking each other out is an older, more poetic interpretation.

Artemis's and Athena's statues: Artemis did have a statue that fell from Mount Olympus. It fell onto an island where it was worshipped as the goddess herself until Apollo sent a hero to reclaim it. Athena's statue was placed on earth by the goddess and, as far as anyone knows, was never returned to Olympus.


	14. 14 Nasim

Nasim Sameer stood in the Hecate cabin, facing eastward. He had not said the ritual prayers in years; he was ashamed of his own embarrassment and cowardice. Life had been hard ever since that terrible day when extremists of his religion, a beautiful and peaceful religion, had destroyed the Twin Towers in an act of suicidal terrorism. Nasim hadn't prayed since that day.

After the attacks - attacks Nasim and his father had mourned over as much as the rest of America - the Sameers had been subjected to minor acts of terrorism by their own neighbors. Rocks through the store windows, calls of "go home terrorist", that sort of thing. Nasim's father, Amal Sameer, had accepted it with nobility and grace. He had prayed and, when his son had given up praying, Amal had prayed for his son.

Nasim found it hard to even pray to the Greek gods. He believed that they could have stopped the al-Qaeda's attack and saved Nasim's people from persecution. But his mother, Hecate, had been there for Nasim and even taught him the magical arts. Nasim still thought she might be wrong in adopting dogs, which were unclean creatures, as her symbol.

It was amazing how much the noonday sun could mean to a boy who was only fifteen years old, but to him it meant prayer, and not saying prayer, and the reasons for not saying prayers, and terrorism, and persecution, and fathers, and mothers, and even dogs.

"Unclean animals," he muttered, turning away from the east when a knock sounded on the door of the cabin. "Couldn't she have chosen cats instead? I thought black cats were magical."

Lou Ellen and Sabrina Myrddin, Nasim's half-sisters, were somewhere outside. He liked them well enough and was glad he was on their good sides; it is always best to be on the good side of sorceresses.

Nasim opened the door of his cabin and saw three people standing there. Well, not exactly people, as Chiron was a centaur. A girl, Nasim thought her name might be Andy, stood at Chiron's side. He was pretty sure she was from the Hades cabin, but he also was fairly sure her father wasn't Hades. A boy, one Nasim didn't know, stood at the front.

"Nasim, this is Robin," Chiron said. "He just arrived at camp yesterday. His mother is Calliope."

"Muse of epic poetry," Nasim said, shaking Robin's hand.

"Yes. Robin's just been given a quest, and he thinks that either you or one of your sisters can help him with transportation," the centaur said.

"Like a translocation spell?" Nasim asked. "I don't know, those are pretty tricky. I don't even think Lou has the hand of them yet." Sabrina had once been the head counselor for Cabin Sixteen, but Lou had more magical powers so she had ascended to her place. Other cabins' counselors were chosen based on age, but the Hecate cabin had agreed that power may be a better way to go about it.

"No, I have something else in mind," Robin said. "I just need your magic, I can shape it into what I want."

"Simple lending of power? I can do that," Nasim agreed. He slipped on his flip flops and stepped outside.

Nasim had dark, tan skin like almost all people from the Middle East. While Nasim was slightly ashamed of his coloring, his father said that their people were "sun burnished". His hair was dark and thick, his eyebrows sharp and well-defined, thick eyelashes framed dark, deer-like eyes. He was not very tall, but taller than average and thin as a bean-pole.

When Robin led them all to the beach, Nasim dropped back to talk with Chiron.

"What is the quest?" he asked.

"He has to find a statue of a virgin goddess and 'right' it," the centaur explained. "He believes the statue is somewhere in the south. Apparently, a water nymph named Oenone was also taken and is being held with the statue. Robin wants to rescue her."

"Isn't it a bit odd that two quests should go one at the same time?" Nasim asked, thinking of Jason, Leo, and Piper and how they had left this morning.

"I don't see why, if they're going two completely different places to do two completely different things," Chiron said, but it sounded more like he was reassuring himself.

It seemed that half the camp had gathered on the beach to watch. Robin did not pay attention to these watchers, but pulled a thick wallet out of his pocket and opened it. Nasim's eyes widened as the other boy pulled out an entire thick book from the tiny wallet.

Robin opened the book and gestured for Nasim to come over. He did and obediently put his hands on Robin's shoulders when asked to. Robin turned to face the sound and, holding the book in one hand, lifted his other hand to face the sea.

"Then she led the way to the borders of the island where tall trees were standing, alder and popular and fir, reaching to the skies, long dry and well-seasoned, which would float for him lightly. He fell to cutting timbers, and his work went forward apace. Twenty trees in all did he fell, and trimmed them with the axe; then he cunningly smoothed them all and made them straight to the line." As Robin read, Nasim felt the pull of magic as it flowed from him into the other boy. Robin read well, so that Nasim almost thought he could hear the sound of an axe chopping and trees crashing to the ground.

"He bored all the pieces and fitted them to one another, and with pegs and morticings did he hammer it together. Wide as a man well-skilled in carpentry marks out the curve of the hull of a freight-ship, broad of beam, even so wide did Odysseus make his raft." Nasim's magic was pulling stronger now, and he could definitely hear the sound of hammering. When he looked around, he saw everyone on the beach listening intently.

"And he set up the deck-beams, bolting them to the close-set ribs, and labored on; and he finished the raft with long gunwales. In it he set a mast and a yard-arm, fitted to it, and furthermore made him a steering-oar, wherewith to steer. Then he fenced in the whole from stem to stern with willow withes to be a defense against the wave, and strewed much brush thereon."

Nasim blinked and frowned. It seemed that the waves in front of them were churning more than they ought to. Above them, the air seemed to twist and bend like smoke. The waves crashed up and the smoke churned around until Nasim could just make out the outline of a boat forming in the sound.

"He was brought cloth to make him a sail, and he fashioned that too with skill." Nasim saw the smoke twist and bulge outward, forming an almost transparent sail. "And he made fast in the raft braces and halyards and sheets, and then with levers forced it down into the bright sea."

With a crash of water, the smoky ship took solid form and fell, dipping its prow, into the sea. It was at least forty meters long, made of dark honey-colored wood. It's deck looked to be about 3 meters above the water, with three decks of rows. Its prow was... well, there was no other word for it: beaked. An eye, slanted and carefully painted, marked the prow just above this beak. A mast was located midships and a small, tilted sail was hung near the front. The ropes and sails snapped in the wind as the ship, a full Greek trireme, bobbed up and down in the sound.

"How the Hades?" someone said.

"Robin, you totally just built the Black Pearl!" Andy said. Robin gave a confused smile, like he didn't understand the reference.

"I did not build it," Robin said. "Nasim and Homer did. Well, technically Odysseus as well." He paused, looking thoughtful. "Would you like to name it Black Pearl?"

"Yes," Nasim said immediately. Robin, Andy, and Chiron looked at him. "Oh, sorry, you weren't asking me."

"You would not be too far off it assuming that," Robin said. "I would be honored if you would join be on this quest. We can name the ship Black Pearl if that is a condition to your attendance."

"Yes!" Nasim said. "I mean, no it's not a condition. Yes, I want to come!"

"Black Pearl," Robin said thoughtfully. "I think it is appropriate. _To those whose business is in the grey discomfortable sea, pray to Hecate_, as Hesiod tells us. And is she not the goddess of the dark side of the moon, which is often compared to a black pearl?"

Nasim was astounded that Robin was able to figure out a way in which a pirate ship owned by Captain Jack Sparrow could relate to classical mythology. He had to agree to name the ship the Black Pearl simply out of respect for the obscure connection. Plus, it was a honor for his mother. I mean, better that then Dog's Breath, Nasim thought.

Robin went onto the ship to explore it while Andy and Nasim went to their cabins to pack.

A/N: Footnotes:

Dogs: Hecate's companions are dogs which are considered to be unclean animals in the Islamic faith

The ship: This is the description of the raft Odysseus builds in book 5 of the _Odyssey_

The Black Pearl: That quote is straight from Hesiod, who was very fond of Hecate and seemed to put more of an emphasis on her than his contemporaries. Hecate is associated with the moon, but more specifically with the dark side of the moon (the new moon) and the time for witch-craft.


	15. 15 Robin

The deck rolled beneath Robin's feet, but he rather enjoyed the feeling. The sound was relatively calm, and when he licked his lips he tasted salt. He jumped lightly on the railing, holding on to one of the many ropes.

From what he had seen, the trireme was perfect. There was a berth for sleeping and the galley was fully stocked with food. The sails and ropes were all in working condition and the wood seemed brand new, without any rotting or stained places.

"Beautiful, isn't she?" someone asked. Robin would have fallen off the ship in surprise if he hadn't been holding on. As it was, he slipped and nearly lost his balance. A freezing breeze gripped his arms and then was gone.

Robin turned and looked down onto the deck. In the bright, direct sunlight he could just barely make out the ghostly shape of a man. The man was tall and broad with shoulder length, slightly curly hair and leather armor. Robin could just make out a few colors on the stranger, but the sun blanched most of the colors out.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"You should know," the man laughed, a harsh sound. "You read me out of the poem, didn't you?" Robin stared at him, swaying back and forth with the movement of the ship.

"Odysseus?" he asked.

"The one and only," the ghost smiled. "You know, I always loved this ship. I named her the Penelope."

"This is the Black Pearl," Robin told him. "What are you doing here?"

"Your voice called me and my men out of the Underworld," the long-dead man said, looking around the ship. Robin glanced around with sharp eyes and saw, to his astonishment, the ghostly figures of the crew. They looked like no more than the shimmer of air on a hot day, but he could see them wandering about the deck, checking the riggings and tightening the knots of the ropes. "Someone has to captain your Pearl," Odysseus remarked.

"I... I did not mean to read you from your rest," Robin told him, jumping down onto the deck.

"I don't think they mind," Odysseus remarked. "Most of them were wandering in Asphodel Fields. They are glad to be back on the sea."

"You know, there are a great many people nowadays who hate you," Robin told him. "Your tricks and wiles were admired by us Greeks, but not by the Romans." Odysseus looked sad and nodded, not questioning who these Romans were. But then again, the dead knew all things.

"I regret many of the choices I made," the ghost sighed. "Regret, but would not change."

"They hate you for the killing of the infant prince, Astyanax," Robin said somberly. Odysseus looked pained at the memory: once, long ago, Odysseus had been a hero of the Trojan War. When the Greeks had taken the city, Odysseus had demanded that Hector's infant son, the heir to Troy's throne, be cast off the walls of his city.

"I regret that most of all," Odysseus said. "But it was necessary."

"Do you regret it because of your punishment for it?"

"No. It was a decision I never wanted to make. But again, a necessary one. Troy could not be allowed to rise again."

"Troy did rise again," Robin told him. "It rose and fell four more times."

"But not in my life," Odysseus said. "And not in the life of my son. That is what was important."

Robin did not contest. He had read too many epics to contest. Besides, he had always secretly agreed with Odysseus.

"So you will be with us this entire journey," Robin asked.

"Only you can see or hear or feel us," Odysseus told him.

"Feel you?" Odysseus reaching out a transparent hand and touched Robin's shoulder. It went numb with cold until the ghost removed his hand. Robin could now tell that the freezing cold he had felt when he'd nearly lost his balance on the railing had merely been Odysseus trying to steady him.

"We will always be here on this ship until you are finished with us," Odysseus told him. "But we cannot go ashore. Give me one of your arrows and I will give you a gift."

Robin reached into his quiver and gave Odysseus an arrow. It was an eagle fletched one. Odysseus took it and Robin was surprised to see that, though Odysseus did not seem to be able to touch him properly, he could hold the arrow. But then, his men were able to touch and move things all around the ship.

Odysseus looked over the arrow and nodded; whether in satisfaction, approval, or simply acknowledgement, Robin could not tell. Then, without warning, the ghost lunged forward and brought the arrow down sharply. A long jagged cut was gashed into the back of Robin's hand. It began to bleed profusely, seeping down his hands and dripping off his fingertips.

"What was that for?" Robin demanded.

"It was a gift," Odysseus told him. "You can have your arrow back if you make that scar vanish."

"The arrow will come back, anyway," Robin retorted, pressing his other hand to his wound, starting to panic slightly. It was bleeding very heavily.

"Not this time," Odysseus grinned.

Robin's quiver had been given to him by Apollo. It never emptied and the arrows always returned, cleaned, after their use had been filled (that is, once the opponent was killed or pulled the arrow out). But the way Odysseus held Robin's eagle feathered arrow, one of only three he had in his quiver, his head cocked to the side; it made Robin sure that the arrow wasn't coming back anytime soon.

Robin retreated to shore, still clutching the hurt hand. Will bandaged it up, asking how he got it, and Robin quickly made up a lie about a loose nail. Will looked worried and wanted to have Robin see a doctor and get something called a "tetnus shot". Robin had never heard of needing to be shot just for cutting oneself on a nail; in fact, it seemed rather counterproductive. Will settled for given Robin a little ambrosia. He'd also prepared a first aid kit, the one thing the Black Pearl was lacking.

"Hey, that's kind of weird," Will said as he was wrapping the bandages around Robin's hand.

"What?" Robin asked tiredly.

"Oh nothing, it's just the the cut looks a little like an arrow," Will shrugged. Robin looked down and saw that Will was right. But when the son of Apollo turned Robin's hand slightly and the shadow of the bandage fell over it, the gash looked more like a feather.

A/N: Footnotes:

Trireme: Greek war vessel

Penelope: the actual name of Odysseus original ship

Astyanax: son of Hector and Andromache. If he had been allowed to live, he could have raised Troy once more and sought vengeance for his father's death. People really do still hate Odysseus for this (*ahem*, my Latin teacher), but like Robin I've always been fond of the wily hero

Romans view of Odysseus: they disliked him, for he was crafty as a Greek and preferred his tricks to fighting an outright, noble battle. While Greek texts refer to him as "cunning Odysseus", Romans always called him "cruel Odysseus".

"The dead know all things": largely considered to be true, as heroes would sometimes call the dead forth to hear prophesies (e.g. Aeneas's departed father told him of his descendants to come, including Augustus Caesar who would not be born for another 700 years)


	16. 16 Nasim

With his pack slung over his back, Nasim made his way to the beach where the huge ship, a trireme, bobbed at anchor. As he arrived, he could see Robin on the shore talking with Chiron. There was a brief flash of dark hair as Andy's head appeared over the railings; it looked as though she was settling in on the boat.

"... glad you have a ship," Chiron was telling Robin. "If the earth is stirring, over the sea and through the air are the only safe ways to travel. Try not to put ashore too much."

Robin nodded, then smiled as he saw Nasim drawing closer. Nasim noticed that Robin's hand was bandaged and held close to his chest, as though it hurt him.

"Have everything you need?" Robin asked. "A weapon?"

"My magic can protect me," Nasim shrugged.

"I have no doubt in the power of your magic," Robin said. "But I am worried we might find ourselves in a situation where you can't use it. That being the case, I'd prefer it if you weren't defenseless."

Nasim hesitated, then nodded. "I have a sword," he said. "Let me just put this on the ship before I got and get it."

"I'll do that," Robin offered, taking the pack with his good hand.

Nasim hurried back to his cabin and pulled the wide, curved scimitar out from under his bed. It had hung in his father's shop longer than Nasim could remember. His father, a peace-loving man, had never even touched it but would sometimes look at it when talking about Nasim's mother. It was made of celestial bronze and wickedly sharp. According to his father, it was a saif, the most common scimitar. In their language (Amal Shameer always called Arabic "their language" even though Nasim knew less Arabic than English or even Ancient Greek) it was the muhaddab.

Sabrina watched Nasim from her bunk, where she had been practicing casting pewter runes.

"Good luck," she told him. Nasim nodded, his mouth suddenly dry. He'd trained with the scimitar before, but wasn't sure how he would do in a fight. Better to use his magic until the blade was absolutely necessary.

He tried to buckle the sword to his side, but his hands were shaking too much. Sabrina got up and helped him, her cool white hands skillfully tying the leather straps off. She looked up, her violet eyes concerned. Lou and Sabrina both had their mom's eyes; Nasim did not think he looked anything like Hecate. Sabrina hugged him tightly and Nasim relaxed. The best part about finding out who his mom was had been finding out he had two older sisters to look after him. Only Sabrina wouldn't be able to look after him anymore; on this quest, Nasim would be alone.

Nasim ran back to the beach, the muhaddab hitting his legs and threatening to trip him up.

Robin was waiting for him, his cheeks flushed with impatience and excitement. There was a small, leaky rowboat that they would use to paddle out to the Black Pearl and then would have to haul on board so that they could use it in the future.

Robin pulled at the oars mightily and Nasim watched as Camp Half-Blood slid backwards, the water opening up between the little boat and the sandy shore.

"Your sword is magnificent," Robin said, nodding towards the sheathed blade. "Where did you get it?"

"It was my father's," Nasim said. "But he never used it. I never even saw it drawn until my mother brought me here."

"What metal is that on the sheath?" Robin asked. Nasim's hand stole self-consciously to the silvery, twisting veins that crossed and spiraled around the black leather sheath.

"Pewter," he explained. "It's the best metal conductor of magic because it combines all the best qualities of all the other metals." And their worst qualities, Nasim thought but did not say out loud. It was well known that while Hecate' realm was magic, her specialty was dark magic. Black magic. _She was associated with deeds of darkness, the Goddess of Crossways, which held to be ghostly places of evil magic. An awful divinity._

When Nasim had heard that his mother had sided against the gods in the war, he had burst into tears. It seemed to him that he could not escape the brand of "traitor" and "enemy". But the other campers hadn't treated Cabin Sixteen any differently, they hadn't cast side long looks or even referenced their mother's actions. The only time they'd acted strange was when Lou, Sabrina, or Nasim had done an admittedly odd piece of magic.

Robin nodded agreeably and began to hum a little, childish tune. When they got to the ship, Robin tied the boat to a rope that was hung over the side so that it would not drift away. Then he climbed up the ladder like a squirrel. Nasim followed slowly, the muhaddab getting tangled up between his ankles.

Robin was already at the top and hauling up the little rowboat by the time Nasim made it. He was panting, but suddenly grateful for the climbing lessons offered by the lava rock climbing wall at camp. He could just see the trembling wall from here and the molten liquid spewing from its top.

Nasim tried to lend Robin a hand in lifting the boat up, but was afraid he had just ended up getting in the way. But Robin grinned and smiled and tried to teach Nasim the little tune he'd been humming. It was only later, after they'd gotten a hold of the edge of the boat and were lifting it over the railing, that Nasim remembered Robin's hand. When he watched it more carefully, he saw that it was stiff.

"What happened to your hand?" Nasim asked.

"Oh, nothing," Robin said breezily.

"You are a terrible liar," Nasim told him, shaking his head.

"Thank you," Robin laughed. "Come on, one final pull should do it." With an almighty struggle, they got the rowboat onto the deck. Robin left it there and bounded away towards the front of the ship. Nasim had never been on a ship and had only seen them in movies. For all he knew, the front of the ship might be called "starboard". Yes, he'd definitely heard at least one part of the ship called starboard before.

"Hey!" Nasim turned and saw Andy looking up from a trap door that was set into the floor of the... deck? Yeah, Nasim was at least seventy percent sure the right word was deck.

"Robin put your stuff down here, come see!" Andy grinned at him before disappearing back down the trap door. Or was is a hatch?

Nasim walked over there unsteadily; he had a bad feeling that the rocking of the boat was going to get worse once they left the sound and hit open ocean.

A set of wooden stairs led down into the belly of the ship. Nasim carefully held the muhaddab up and out of the way, like a lady might daintily hold the train of her skirt out of the mud.

Underdeck - Nasim was fairly sure that that was _not_ the right term - was surprisingly well light by electric lamps. This room appeared to be the ship's kitchen. The stove, pans, and other items found in a kitchen were located on one side of the room with a heavy table a few chairs were on the other, dividing the room into cooking and dining areas. Two doors stood at opposing ends of of the room.

A particularly strong wave seemed to hit the boat, making Nasim stumble forwards. There would be time to explore later, he thought. Better to put away the muhaddab before he decapitated himself.

The door at the far end of the kitchen led to a hallway with two small rooms coming off it. One, a small room Nasim was fairly sure would have held treasure or the spoils of war, now held a small, narrow bunk with Andy's belongings already strewn over the room. The other room was slightly larger with two sturdy looking bunks built into the walls. An unopened satchel had been placed upon one, so Nasim assumed Robin had already claimed that one as his own. The other bunk held Nasim's bag; he unstrapped the muhaddab and put it next to the bag.

Nasim left the cabin and went back through the kitchen. He looked through the stores of food and found, to his astonishment, that it was full of all sorts of modern food like chips and chocolate chip cookies.

"What's up?" Andy asked. She had come through the second mystery door and was standing near another wooden-sided box. "Cool, huh? Check this out!" She tugged on a wooden handle and opened a latch. Cool air rolled out of the interior.

"Refrigerator!" Andy announced with a 'ta-da' voice. "And there's a freezer... with dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets. How cool is that! Get it, cool?"

"Where does the electricity come from?" Nasim asked. "Has he installed a battery?"

"News flash," Andy said, grabbing a juice box from the fridge. "I don't think Robin knows what a battery is."

"What's through there?" Nasim asked, going to the second door. He poked his head through and saw rows upon rows of still oars stretching away down what appeared to be the length of the ship.

"Let's hope the wind lasts, huh?" Andy commented, looking over his shoulder. "Can you just imagine the three of us trying to move this boat with those things?"

Nasim nodded, but his mind was awhirl with ideas for spells that would animate the oars to pull themselves.

He and Andy made their way back to the surface and, to Nasim's astonishment, they found that the boat was already moving. Camp Half-Blood had vanished somewhere behind them and the coastline of New York was slipping rapidly past.

"When did that happen?" he asked.

"Didn't you feel that jerk?" Andy asked. "That was Robin pulling up the anchor."

"I don't know anything about boats," Nasim said defensively.

"Yeah well, it's a ship," Andy laughed. "Not a boat."

"Ho-oh!" a musical voice called from somewhere up above. Nasim craned his neck and his stomach dropped as he saw Robin perched near the mast. Near, not on, because Robin seemed to be hanging from the ropes. He was grinned as he swung back and forth, the wind tugging at the feather tangled in his hair.

Nasim made a strangled sound that was supposed to convey the meaning: _Oh my gods, he's going to fall and break his neck!_ But Andy laughed and waved at the suspended boy, who let go of a rope to wave back, causing his perch to become even more precarious.

A/N: Footnotes:

"... An awful divinity": Again, a Hesiod quote about Hecate. It is possible that here he meant "awe-full" as opposed to our understanding of "awful".


	17. 17 Robin

They were making good time, but Robin wished there was some way of knowing exactly where they were on the strange, modern map Chiron had given them. This wasn't how he remembered the maps of America that were drawn when he first entered the green wood. It was more detailed, with different names. The areas marked at Florida and Mexico were significantly smaller and there were no longer "Parts as yet unknown" - blank sections in the northwest.

His hand had started to throb and he'd carefully followed the directions in the medical kit which told him to take two tablets of something called "Advil."

Robin had seen Odysseus and his men several times throughout the day. They were most visible in the shadowed below decks and as the light failed, they grew more and more distinct on deck. Andy and Nasim definitely were not able to see or hear them, but the ghosts were good at stepping aside and avoiding contact with them. Considering what Odysseus had said earlier, Robin wasn't so sure that the ghost crew's efforts were entirely necessary.

It seemed that Odysseus had decided to shadow Robin, but the others wandered about tightening and loosening ropes and making sure that the ship continued to sail quickly and in a straight path. Nasim and Andy did not seem to notice their silent, invisible labors.

As the sun set, the king of Ithaca's features became more defined. He was in his upper thirties or lower forties: Odysseus in the prime of his life. His hair was reddish and curly, his eyes sharp. The armor he wore had seen use and plenty of it, making Robin think that he was seeing the man from this side of the Trojan War. A sword hung at his side, its pommel occasionally giving a dull glimmer. The magnificent mantle that hung over his shoulders gradually began to darken with the shadows, during scarlet. Odysseus always had a sort of contained smile on his face, giving the impression that he was constantly plotting and his plans were pleasing him. When he turned that clever smile on Robin, the boy felt a chill run up his back and his hand throbbed worse than ever.

And yet, there was something inherently _wrong_ about Odysseus. Ghosts were supposed to be larger than life and bear the wounds of their deaths upon them. Odysseus looked as though Robin had really and truly plucked him out of the Odyssey when the man was sailing from Calypso's island.

"Robin, it's time for dinner!" Andy called. He was standing at the railing on the stern, his face turned towards the wind which was still faithfully coming from the north. One of the ghostly men was loyally tending the tiller.

"Don't fall asleep," Robin told him. "Learn from Palinurus." The ghost's head, well-defined in the darkening sky, turned to look at Robin but said nothing. Robin supposed that the helmsman wasn't really worried about falling asleep and falling off the ship to his death, since he was already dead.

"They can hear you, but not speak," Odysseus told Robin, appearing from the shadows. "They are not as real as me."

"Why not?" Robin asked, continuing past Odysseus towards the hatch to the galley.

"Because you read me out," Odysseus said. "You called my name and I heard you in the Underworld."

Robin looked back at him and shook his head before retreating down the hatch to the galley.

"Look!" Andy said as he climbed down. "There's ketchup so you can have blood when your dinosaurs kill each other!"

Robin grinned at her and seated himself across from Nasim.

"I have no idea what any of that meant," he said honestly.

"They're dino nuggets," Andy explained with a roll of her eyes. "And you can make them fight! Watch this - "

She demonstrated, making a lot of growling sounds and snapping her teeth together as she bit little bits off of the two competing pieces of chicken. Apparently it was a gruesome battle because she took the ketchup and enthusiastically squirted it over the "injuries".

"I see," Robin said, a smile tugging at the corner of his lip. "Now, what exactly is a dinosaur?"

Nasim and Andy stared at him, open-mouthed.

"Um, big lizards - " Nasim started.

"REALLY big lizards," Andy corrected him.

"That lived a REALLY long time ago," Nasim finished.

"You mean drakons, dragons, hydras, sea monsters and the like," Robin said, trying to understand.

"No. Well, maybe that's how the _Greeks _saw them," Nasim said.

"And since you learned you were a half-blood, how often have things the 'Greeks saw' been wrong, or imaginary?" Robin asked, cocking his head to the side. Nasim and Andy looked at each other, and then shrugged.

"Did you know," Robin asked, carefully picking up a 'dino nugget' and nibbling its head off like he'd seen Andy do. "That neither the Greeks nor the Romans believed that monsters were real?" He picked up the red bottle and daubed a little ketchup on the severed neck.

"They believed that the true evil in this world is man," Robin explained, positioning another dinosaur so that it looked like it was eating the first. "Monsters were merely man's worst traits personified. It was men who were the monsters, and the task of heroes was to make the world a better place by eliminating those faults so that men could live freely and peacefully."

"That is why two of the most famous epics surviving from Greece and Rome do not speak of monsters, but of wars," Robin explained. "Because the struggle for peace is the greatest struggle of all." As he spoke, he worked quickly and soon the carnage of a dinosaur battle to the death was strewn across his plate. He surveyed the wreck and noticed that Andy and Nasim were doing likewise, with slightly horrified faces.

"The poets made your world," Robin said. "They gave you these dragons and dinosaurs you fight. The real evil in this world is contained in the darkest, most secret depths of our souls."

He picked up a nugget and looked past it at the transfixed faces of his companions. "And by 'our', I refer to simply to humanity. You know that, right?" He popped the nugget in his mouth and chewed.

"Andy, these are really quite delicious," he decided. "Thank you for making them."

"I really wish that I hadn't," Andy said, looking slightly sick.

"Yeah, can we finish eating before we say anything else?" Nasim asked.

"I've upset you, I'm sorry," Robin said. He caught a flash of red in the corner. Odysseus had been listening. Good.

"Naw, it's okay," Andy said. "It's just that nowadays we don't usually talk about the faults of humanity around the dinner table. Faults of Republicans and Canadians are still open to discussion, though."

Robin did not understand, and so finished his meal in silence. Odysseus watched him in equal silence, hopefully pondering over Robin's words. But knowing something about the nature of the King of Ithaca, Robin knew that that hope might be too much to hope for.

Later that night, when Robin was settling into his bunk and Nasim was in the bathroom, Robin opened his eyes and saw Odysseus sitting in the corner, brooding.

"It's not true, you know," the ghost said as soon as Robin's eyes opened. "The poets didn't make up monsters."

"How would you know?" Robin asked. "You came out of a book."

"I am Odysseus, King of Ithaca, hero of the Trojan War," the ghost said, straightening up, his eyes blazing. "I won the armor of Achilles, I found my way in and out of the enemy city, I conceived the idea of the Trojan horse. I lived and died. You of all people, son of Calliope, should know that the poems are true."

"You are Odysseus," Robin retorted quietly, sitting up. "Absent king of an island of goatherds, mortal among demigods. Trickster, deceiver, and murderer. You were detected by a mere woman in the enemy city. Your life and death are a legend. And you showed mercy when others showed simple lust."

Odysseus's head, which had begun to hang in hot shame, rose again and met Robin's eye.

"Others forgot," Robin said softly. "Your action toward Astyanax eclipsed the kindness you showed that same day. You offered to take poor, elderly, feeble Hecuba, queen of Troy, into your home. The other, 'greater' men, demigods, chose younger, prettier woman. But you loved Penelope, your wife, and so you did not take a concubine but showed compassion to an old woman who had no more sons that would care for her."

"And you never wanted war," Robin continued. "You used every wile, every trick to stop them from making you go to fight. You only yielded when the life of your son was at stake. There was a darkness in you, Odysseus. But your light was never eclipsed by its shadow."

Odysseus just looked at him. Robin's hand hurt, so he glared at the ghost and turned over. He drifted off to sleep just as Nasim got back.

Odysseus watch the steady rise and fall of Robin's chest. The other half-blood, the son of the Witch, was trying to be quiet as he got ready for bed.

"What would you know about darkness, son of Calliope?" Odysseus asked, shaking his head. "There's none in you."

A/N: Footnotes:

Ghosts: In the Greek and Roman tradition, you were able to tell a ghost from a live person because ghosts were larger than life and looked exactly the same as they had when they died (that is, if they were warriors they bore the fatal wounds upon their bodies).

Palinurus: the helmsman of Aeneas, whom Somnus struck down with sleep so that he would fall into the ocean and Aeneas's boat would wander off course.

Odysseus's life: Odysseus was indeed the son of a mortal woman and a mortal father, while most of his compatriots were demigods. He came up with the idea of the Trojan horse. During the war, after the death of Achilles, the dead hero's armor was given to the winner of a wrestling match. Later on, Odysseus snuck into the city to find out where they kept a sacred, protective statue. Helen spotted him and helped him by giving the Greek directions to the temple where it was kept. Meanwhile, Odysseus's son and wife were struggling to keep other men from taking over Odysseus's island home. After the war, Odysseus took pity on the widowed queen of Troy, Hecuba, and offered to take her into his home.


	18. 18 Andy

Andy woke up early (well, early for her) and, not being skilled at cooking anything that involved more than a microwave or a toaster, grabbed a yogurt and a granola bar. She stumbled up to the deck, wincing at the sun's light seemed to stab viciously at her eyes.

"Good morning!" a bright voice called. She grumbled an incoherent reply at munched her granola bar. Where was her freezing cold shower to wake her up?

"Andy, is everything all right?" Robin sounded so concerned, Andy actually tried to open her eyes.

"Not morning person," she mumbled.

"I've seen her kind before," Nasim's voice said. "She will not be happy or truly awake until morning is over."

"Not funny," Andy groaned, as Robin laughed merrily. His high, clear voice made Andy wince and she retreated to the safe, dark quiet offered below deck. As she slumped into the seat, she could have sworn she saw a red flash out of the corner of her eye. When she opened her eyes and tried to focus, she saw that there was nothing there.

Andy got up and floundered toward where she thought the sink was. Tripping over the chair and stubbing her toe, she gave a sharp cry.

"Is everything all right down there?" Robin's voice called from above. Andy said something she hoped went along the lines of "_I'm fine, my toe's just broken._"

Robin's crow of laughter floated down, expressing no concern that her toe was probably snapped in half.

Andy raised her hands in front of her and located the sink by touch. Putting her head forward and down, she fumbled to turn on the sink.

"YEOW!" Andy wailed as cold water splashed down; she jumped up and hit her head on the faucet.

"What's wrong?" Nasim called.

"I'M AWAKE!" Andy yelled back.

Robin and Nasim's laughter rolled out. They were clearly able to interpret her meaning: "_I'm awake, what else could be wrong?_"

Suddenly harsh cries rang out from above. Andy swore, grabbed her sword and ran up the stairs, water still dripping down her face and getting in her eyes.

"Woah, Andy!" Nasim said, coming out of nowhere. Andy heard the cries croaked out again, just behind her and slightly higher. She whirled around, raising her sword - and slammed into an invisible force that froze her.

It took her a second to realize that both Robin and Nasim were laughing hysterically. Andy frowned; this was the fourth time this morning that Robin had laughed at her expense.

The water had run out of her eyes and she saw the clear blue sky of a late morning. Against this bright backdrop, white wings fluttered and voices cawed raucously. Sea gulls.

"The Strophades, where dread Celaeno bides, with other Harpies," Robin recited. "Birds seem they, but with face like woman-kind; foul-flowing bellies, hands with crooked claws, and ghastly lips they have, with hunger pale." His voice changed as he fell to a less formal speech. "Or, alternatively, not monsters but mere mortal birds."

"Okay," Andy said, glad to find she could still move her mouth. She was still stuck in the ridiculous posture of upraised sword and standing on the tips of her toes in a manner that shouldn't have been possible. "Number one, will everyone stop laughing at me? And b) will someone please let me go?"

"Fine," Nasim said, clearly trying not to laugh. There was a shimmer of purple on the edges of Andy's vision and she collapsed slightly. Her arms dropped and the sword pointed towards the ground.

When Andy turned around, Robin and Nasim had adopted somber, deathbed faces. On Robin, the expression was positively comical.

"Can't you like, talk to the vicious harpy-gulls?" Andy asked.

"Why exactly would you want that?" Robin asked, still trying to be serious.

"Cause they'll make a mess," Andy frowned.

Robin shrugged and threw back his head, "I!" He said it like a drawn out 'ee', but the birds reacted well enough, wheeling away and flapping back towards shore."

"I assume that's Swahili for 'be gone!'," Andy guessed.

"It's Latin, actually," Robin said.

"Why Latin?" Nasim asked. "Why not Greek?"

"Latin came to mind first," Robin shrugged casually. Andy knew Robin well enough to know when he was lying, but he was telling the truth now. Now she just wondered why Latin had come to mind first.

As Andy turned around to go back to her room and get into dry clothes, she saw the rowboat had been pushed aside and neatly tied up. Andy frowned; she couldn't remember Robin doing that last night. Maybe he'd woken up early and done it.

At lunch, when Andy had truly woken up, Nasim gallantly volunteered to cook them bacon and scrambled legs.

"I thought Muslims didn't eat meat," Andy said.

"You are Moslem?" Robin asked. "Like a Saracen?"

"It's Muslim," Nasim said, somewhat sharply. "And I'm an Arab, not a Saracen."

"Ah, then I am sorry," Robin nodded apologetically. "There is a grave difference."

"Uh, what's a Saracen?" Andy asked, feeling sort of stupid and hoping she wasn't being rude.

"The Aramaic speakers of Syria," Robin said. "As distinct from those who dwell in the Arabian deserts. It originally meant 'those not of Sarah', the wife of Abraham, who was in turn the father of Ishmael by another woman."

"Ishmael... 'Call me Ishmael'?" Andy asked, wondering why a whale had anything to do with Arabia.

"The first line of that book is 'I am Ishmael'," Nasim corrected, turning on the oven. "Muslims are the spiritual descendants of Abraham by Ishmael. And you are wrong, there are only a few meats Muslims cannot eat. Yes, pork is one of them."

"Then why...?"

"I'm not exactly a... devout follower," Nasim muttered. "My father is. He would not be happy knowing what I am cooking right now."

"What is your father like?" Robin asked.

"He is a good man," Nasim said, pulling a skillet over the burner and cracking an egg into it. "A good Muslim."

"They aren't the same thing?" Robin asked.

"... Once they were. And they should be still," Nasim said, but he shook his head. "The fact is, prejudice makes people think that they aren't."

"Prejudice?" Robin asked. "Still from the Crusades?"

Andy felt uncomfortable but together, haltingly, she and Nasim managed to explain the events of 9/11 to Robin. He didn't quite understand certain things - airplanes and buildings that were as tall as mountains - but he understood death. He even began to cry silently as they told him. Nasim finished making their lunch and Andy looked away uncomfortably as Robin used his sleeve to dash the tears from his face.

"My father came to this country many years ago," Nasim said. "We are Americans. We are like many other Muslims, and many other Arabs who were not involved in the attacks, but have been discriminated against. My father... he is a godly man."

"He met my mother, took her to the movies," Nasim smiled slightly and shrugged. "They started to date. He wanted marriage, she wanted out. He didn't know why until I was born and he found out exactly who my mother was. After 9/11 she came around a lot more, taught me spells. It was she who took me to camp the first time."

Andy took a couple more pieces of bacon and began chewing on one. "Yeah, my dad met my mom in a cemetery," Andy said. "Should have known then, huh? He was at his uncle's funeral and stopped by my grandmother's grave afterwards. A young woman, wearing black and looking a lot like another mourner, was nearby at another grave. They... comforted each other. From what I understand, it was a one night stand."

"You know," Andy chuckled, leaning back in her chair. "I'd always assumed that mom stuck around, was there when I was little. Dad always told me she'd died. Well, not exactly. He said he met her in a cemetery and that's where she'd gone. So I assumed that meant she died. But I think he was trying to tell me something all along."

Robin got up and got them some toast and jam. When he sat back down, it was to find that Andy and Nasim were looking at him expectantly.

"Yes?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Dude, we're bonding," Andy rolled her eyes at him. "You know, telling each other stuff about ourselves."

"I... lived in a forest the past two hundred fifty years," Robin reminded her, still confused.

"Oh, come on!" Nasim said, taking a piece of bread. "I told you about my father, Andy told us about her father... what about your father?"

"Oh." Robin sat back. "His name was Robert Martin. I was named after him." The boy stood and made his way towards the steps.

"Woah, there!" Andy said. "Hold your horsies! Name is not enough."

"You didn't give your fathers' names," Robin pointed out.

"Amal Sameer," Nasim said immediately.

"Finn Tiber," Andy followed quickly.

"I don't know what else to say," Robin admitted. He lightly bounded up the steps and Andy could hear his footsteps grow softer.

"Maybe we shouldn't have asked," Nasim said.

"He lived with his mother," Andy remembered. "He probably never met his father. At any rate, Robert Martin probably died sometime around the Revolutionary War." She paused, biting her lip, "You know, I always thought that Robin was named after Robin Hood," she admitted.

"I thought he was named after Robin Goodfellow," Nasim admitted as well. "You know, Puck from 'Midsummer's Night Dream'."

"I guess neither of us were right," Andy said.

"Perhaps we both were right," Nasim suggested. "After all, Robin Hood was a very famous character, many stories were told about him. And Calliope loves oral traditions; the _Odyssey_ and the _Iliad_ were both stories passed on by word of mouth before being written down by Homer."

"Okay, I'm starting to get used to Robin saying stuff like that, but not you," Andy said, picking up the plates and moving towards the sink.

"Hecate's Roman name was Trivia," Nasim said proudly. "As in Trivial Pursuit."

"Wait, the Romans invented Trivial Pursuit?" Andy asked, washing up.

"No, but they invented trivia: random facts," Nasim shrugged. "So her children know some _really _weird tidbits of information."

"Helpful."

"Not always," Nasim said. "Most of the time, it's just random moments and random things."

A/N: Footnotes:

Celaeno: Queen of the Harpies. Robin is quoting the _Aeneid, _book 3.

Saracen: a term used (incorrectly) to describe the Muslims who had control of the Holy City in the time of the Crusades

"I am Ishmael": the first lines of the book _Moby-Dick_, which is about a whale

Trivia: The Greek goddess Hecate was often seen working spells at the crossing of three roads. In Latin, three roads are "tri-via", hence their name for the goddess: Trivia.

A note on American Muslims: I have quite a few friends who have felt persecuted after the events of 9-11. Certain aspects of Nasim's story (a rock through a store window, feeling like people hated him simply for being Arabic) are true stories taken from the experiences of my friends. Mr. Riordan never included and Arab-American, or a character with any Middle-Eastern ancestry, so I brought in Nasim.


	19. 19 Nasim

Nasim had used a stabilizing spell on his legs so that he wouldn't stumble around the deck. Well, so he wouldn't stumble as much. Andy had adapted to the sea so well that she looked as comfortable on the ship as she did on land. Robin... Nasim was pretty sure Robin could have flown around the ship if he wanted to.

The other boy vaulted around the deck like gravity had no hold on him. He was constantly scampering up the mast and hanging from the ropes and swinging out over the water; Robin laughed at the white-winged gulls, the clouds that scampered around, the winds ruffling his hair, and the green land slipping by.

One day, Robin excitedly called Nasim and Andy up to the deck. He was leaning over the starboard (oh, that was the right side of the ship - _that_ little bit of trivia had come to him over night) railing, looking towards land. The trireme had moved closer to shore so that they could see a few distinct features, including about ten splotches of color moving along the sandy shore.

"Ponies!" Andy said delightedly.

And so they were. Broad-chested, concave-faced, straight-legged ponies. From this distance, the only other feature Nasim could see was their color: browns and dark reds, a few cream-colored, and splotched whites.

"Assateague Island," Nasim said suddenly. It was one of those flashes from Hecate; he hadn't known that information two seconds ago, but now he was absolutely sure. "Those are Chincoteague Ponies. Supposedly abandoned by a Spanish Galleon in the 16th century. We're off the coast of Virginia."

Robin and Andy smiled, watching the ponies milling about as the trireme stately passed by. But suddenly something startled the ponies and they took flight; unshod hooves kicking up sand.

But one pony remained behind. He was slightly larger than the others, and continued grazing sedately, as though nothing had happened. He was a dark grey, with four white socks.

Nasim heard an sharp intake of breath; he looked sideways and saw that Robin had grown white. His hazel eyes were wide, and his mouth was set in a grim line.

"Robin?" Nasim asked. Andy - who had still been watching the stallion with a dreamy look that every girl who's always wanted a pony gets when they see a horse - broke her gaze, looking first at Nasim and then at Robin.

"Grey horse," Robin said. "It's a sign of... bad luck." Nasim could tell that Robin had been going to say something else.

"Well, it's not a horse, it's a pony," Andy said, not even trying to tell Robin that his superstition was - well, a superstition. "So it's not the same thing. Right?"

"Yes," Robin said softly, but his face was still pale. "Yes, you might be right."

Robin frowned suddenly, as though someone had whispered something in his ear.

Only later, when night had fallen and they'd all taken to their beds, did Nasim realize something very important. He sat up straight then paused, Robin's even breathing continued without pause - Nasim hadn't woken Robin up.

Grey horse... and couldn't Nasim remember white colorations on the legs of the horse, as though he had put on white socks? Well, white socks were a sign of bad luck, but not grey horses. Grey horses were omens of death.

Sometimes, and only _very _occasionally, Hecate sent Nasim interesting trivial details.

Nasim slipped out of his bed, tiptoeing past Robin's sleeping form, and snuck out the door. Crossing the hallway, Nasim opened Andy's door.

She was sleeping, her mouth slightly open and her dark hair fanned out on the pillow behind her.

"Andy?" Nasim asked. "Psst, Andy!"

Her mouth closed and she turned onto her side, hand falling out of the bed and straying dangerously near to her sword, which was stashed under the bed.

"Andy, it's Nasim! Wake up!" Nasim shook her shoulder. The girl's eyes flashed open and she glared at Nasim.

"You are sooo lucky you didn't try to wake me up in the morning," she told him.

"We need to talk."

"About the pony?" Andy asked immediately, sitting up. She leant back against the wall and crossed her arms over her chest. Nasim was slightly surprised to see she wore pink pajamas. "Yeah, that was just too weird. And did you hear him? He thought I 'might be right'. _Might._ I don't know Robin very well, and he spouts poetry every five minutes, but I know he doesn't scare easily."

"Death," Nasim explained. "The grey horse is a widely acknowledged symbol of white feet..."

"Socks," Andy corrected. "They're called socks."

"Yeah, whatever," Nasim shrugged. "But those are supposed to symbolize bad luck."

"I'd say death is bad luck," Andy said.

"Not if it's your enemy's death," Nasim countered. In the darkness, he couldn't see her face very clearly.

"I don't think Robin was seeing his enemy's death in that horse," Andy said very quietly.

Somehow, that passing sight of the horse tainted the next few days of their trip. Robin no longer flew around the ship, but resigned himself to the deck. Nasim didn't think he was afraid of falling, but he seemed to preoccupied to play around anymore. Also, he spent long hours separated from Andy and Nasim, sitting on an upturned bucket, and looking at something - or someone - only he could see.

Andy and Nasim were growing more nervous, too. Not about impending death - which Andy had helpfully pointed out could have applied to _any_ of them since they all say the horse at the same time - but about the lack of anything trying to kill and/or eat them. When they voiced this worry, Robin yet again repeated the "the true evil is contained within human souls, not monsters" speech which, in Nasim's opinion, _really_ didn't go with fish custard (Yes, fish custard. No, Nasim would not be letting Andy do anymore cooking).

A/N: Footnotes:

Chincoteague Ponies: There really is a population of wild ponies living on Assateague Island. However, it is more likely that they were bred from domesticated ponies on the mainland and were not, as the popular story goes, abandoned by a passing Spanish ship.

Fish custard: are there any Matt Smith Doctor Who fans in the audience?


	20. 20 Odysseus & Robin

Odysseus liked the boy. Possibly it was simply because the son of the muse had been the first mortal, god, or shade to speak to Odysseus in a long time. And Robin didn't ask about the war, or the journey home, or even Odysseus's time with Calypso.

No, Robin wanted to know about Ithaca. He wanted to know about hunting the boars with his grandfather Autolycus. He wanted to know the games Eumaeus, Ctimene, and he had played as children. And he wanted to know about Penelope's wedding; what she had worn, who the guests had been, and what sacrifices had been performed. He wanted to know about when Telemachus was young and just learning to walk.

And then he wanted to know about _after_ the war. What had Odysseus done with his life after fighting? When Odysseus was forced to admit "not much", Robin had insisted the ghost tell him more. Overseeing his house. Farming. Arranging Telemachus's marriage.

As he spoke, Odysseus began to wonder. Wondered if the reason Robin was interested was because Robin had never known these things, maybe never would. Robin had lived long enough to have lived all these things dozens of times over, but he had never known his grandfather, or had real friends. He had never married or had any children, or owned a house or farm.

Robin had taken the horse omen hard. Odysseus could see that.

He wasn't sure why he considered doing something about it. It was probably tempting the Fates. But then again, Odysseus was already dead and his eternal judgement passed.

The book was tucked away at the bottom of the boy's bag. Robin probably had forgotten it was there. Odysseus found it ironic and yet appropriate that such a book should be buried under weapons.

The book was a lot like Odysseus's own story, the _Odyssey. _It contained the story of a great man who had been highly respected by his people. The man had not killed as many monsters as Hercules, nor fought as many battles as Achilles. He had been inclined to brag and possibly even lie. A proud fellow, a loyal subject, and a great king. Not particularly clever, Odysseus thought with a frown, for he relied too much on brawn rather than brain.

Odysseus took the book and placed it on Robin's bed near the boy's hand so that when he woke up he would find it.

Robin woke up at dawn as usual and his hand fell on the familiar cloth cover of a book. He was startled; Robin couldn't remember reading when he had fallen asleep last night. He opened his eyes and caressed the cover.

It was a copy of _Beowulf_. Robin frowned; he couldn't remember having put the Old English epic in Perseus's wallet.

Never one to question signs, Robin sat up and carefully opened the book. He sat there, reading. Long after the sun rose and even Andy had stumbled out of bed, Robin sat reading.

Suddenly his lips curled into a small smile. He traced one of the lines with his finger and mouthed the words:

"Gæ∂ a wyrd swa hio scel!"

Robin grinned, leaping out of bed and bounding up to the deck.

"Robin?" Andy asked, looking over at him with surprise. "What's wrong?"

She had her sword out in a moment. Nasim thundered up, purple fire crackling around his fingers.

"Gæ∂ a wyrd swa hio scel!" Robin told them, then gave a cartwheel in delight.

"Okay, this time I'm sure it's Swahili," Andy said, sheathing her sword.

"Old English," Nasim identified. "An early form of the English language between the mid-5th and the mid-12th century. But I've no idea what it means."

"Wyrd goes ever as she shall!" Robin translated, leaping up and catching one of the ropes. He hung there for a moment, hanging back and forth. "The Anglo-Saxons had a very different idea of Fate than the Greeks. They called it wyrd. And it could be twisted to one's own devices. You could change it to suit yourself."

"Great!" Andy said, giving the thumbs up. "So, is that good?"

"It's amazing!" Nasim said, looking excited. "This means Robin can interpret the omen as he'd like!"

Robin laughed again and let go of the rope, landing lightly on the deck. "Gæ∂ a wyrd swa hio scel!" he shouted, throwing his head back to the skies and giving a crow of delight.

"Gæ∂ a wyrd swa hio scel!" Nasim and Andy repeated, laughing as well.

For Robin was one of those few people who, when they are really and truly happy, can infect others with that same naive hope that they themselves possess.

And in the shadows, the ghost king of Ithaca smiled, both at their hope and at Robin's infectious delight.

Now, only Robin knew the true reason he had been depressed. It was not for fear of his own death - Robin would have laughed at the idea of such fear - but for fear that he would be too late to save Oenone. Or that Nasim or Andy would die. But wyrd could be changed and Robin could change it to save his friends. He was sure of it.

A/N: Footnotes:

Autolycus: Odysseus's grandfather

Eumaeus, Ctimene: Odysseus's swineherd (who was his playmate when they were children) and his sister.

Telemachus: Odysseus's son

Wyrd: mentioned several times in Beowulf, it is a difficult concept to fully understand. It does not really mean Fate as we would understand it, because it is not well defined and definite. It is determined through ancestry, but also through your own actions. Shakespeare used it to describe the three witches of Macbeth: the weird sisters.


	21. 21 Andy

Andy smiled; Robin's happiness was contagious. He'd been whistling and laughing all afternoon and insisted that they eat dinner early. When Nasim had asked him why, Robin had smiled secretly and said, "I've something to show you both."

After dinner, Robin had hurried them up onto deck.

"Robin, it's getting dark," Andy whined. "Soon we won't be able to see... whatever it is you want us to see."

Robin had laughed at that and ushered them to the port side of the ship.

"Okay, it's even darker over here," Nasim said. "Should I summon a light?"

"No!" Robin said, flashing a smile. "Tell me, what do you see over there?"

"Um, water," Andy said. "A lot of it." Andy frankly found the vast expanse of dark, smoky-grey water to be somewhat frightening.

"Dark sky," Nasim said. That was certainly true; the sky off to the east was darkening, but the sun behind them had not fully set, leaving just enough dusky blue to make Andy wonder whether it was night or day.

"Yes!" Robin said. "That's it! Here, take my hand." Andy took Robin's offered hand but Nasim hesitated.

"I don't want to take your hand," Nasim said. "I'm not... you know."

"Oh, for the love of the gods, just take his hand!" Andy said. Nasim groaned and gave Robin his hand, looking uncomfortable.

"Now look back," Robin told them. "And_ look_."

Andy looked back, not expecting anything to be different. She gasped and felt Robin's hand tighten on her own.

The water had not changed, but the sky had radically altered. It seemed as though the dark in the sky and the remaining blue had separated like olive oil and water. The darkness was concentrated on the far horizon, but it stretched up and arched, following the dome of the sky.

But the darkness didn't end in a straight line; the line changed direction several times and flowed in smooth curves, forming the outline of an enormous, shadowy bird whose wings began to cover the sea. As Andy watched, the darkness seemed to deepen and the traces of stars began to shimmer.

"What is that?" Nasim asked.

"Nyx, goddess of the Night," Robin told them, his voice warm and full of awe.

"But... it's a bird," Andy said stupidly.

"It was only later representations that depicted Nyx as a woman," Robin explained. "All crows, ravens, and blackbirds find their origin in her night-velvet wings."

As they watched, the bird advanced slowly across the sky. Andy had the impression that the wings were closing over them like a mother bird's wings over her chicks. Or something that was flying between her and the sun, chocking off all light.

"Robin, how did you do that?" Nasim asked.

"We did it, together," Robin said. "We couldn't have done it separately. Nasim's magic helped to dissipate the the Mist and allow us to see clearly. Andy, you were able - through your unique ability - to remove the filter that covers our mind, which makes it difficult for most people to accept what they are seeing. I believe such a skill is often called 'imagination'. And I... I simply showed you where to look."

Suddenly the image flickered and then faded. The line between night and day blurred together and the stars winked out. It was, after all, too early for stars.

Andy blinked and looked sideways. Nasim had dropped Robin's hand; that's why the Mist had moved back over their vision and blurred their sight to make it seem like a regular night sky.

But Andy knew, that somewhere up above, Nyx continued to fly over the sea towards the land, which she would likewise cover with her raven-black wings.

That night, they camped on the deck, watching the stars wink back into existence. But as they watched, something moved between them and the stars and this time, it wasn't Nyx. It was a cloud.

"A storm is coming," Robin remarked.

Andy frowned, "Will we still be able to sleep out of here?"

"Yes, it won't be here until tomorrow," Robin reassured her. As soon as he said that, the cloud passed the face of the moon and then moved away out of sight.

Andy shivered slightly. She'd changed into her pink and grey pj's and was a little chilled by the night wind. Robin noticed and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders.

A/N: Footnotes:

Nyx: the primordial goddess of the night, the mother of all that is dark

Another note, I don't know how many are still reading, but I'm afraid I've got to take a break for a few days. New posts should be coming up in about a week.


	22. 22 Nasim

It wasn't until after a storm blew over - after having knocked the trireme from side to side and flapping the sails around like gulls' wings in a hurricane - that the winds died all together. The sails hung slack and empty, but the ship still moved forward. That was when Nasim had noticed something odd about the ship. Andy had noticed certain tasks completing themselves a while ago, but it wasn't until he looked back into the oar deck and saw them paddles pulling themselves that Nasim was forced to agree that something was inherently _wrong_ about the ship.

Either that, or Andy's theory that the ship was haunted held some water. Oh gods, what an unforgivable pun.

When she'd brought it up, Nasim had just assumed that Andy, a daughter of Macaria, would be overly obsessed with dead people. Nasim just couldn't reconcile the image of Andy sitting on the deck wearing pink pajamas with someone who might be able to see and control the dead. Every time he tried, he just had a really strange image of zombies with pink hair bows.

"I wonder if Robin did it," Nasim muttered, once more opening the door and peering inside. The benches all were empty, but the handles of the oars dipped up and down in a creepy, silent dance. The rhythm they bobbed to was beaten out by a drum at the bow end of the ship by an invisible drummer. "With the magic he used to make the ship."

"He doesn't have magic," Andy reminded him. "He used your magic last time. I think you'd know if he was drawing on your power again. Besides, Robin wouldn't do this without telling us."

"He didn't even ask me to rig up an animation spell," Nasim said, aware that he was pouting slightly.

"I'm still telling you: ghosts," Andy said, as though that explained everything.

"Ghosts do not exist, the spirits remain in their graves until..." Nasim trailed off. Until the Day of Judgement comes. That was an Islamic belief. "How could you possibly like sitting in graveyards if you believe in ghosts?" he demanded.

"Spirits go to the Underworld when their body dies," Andy said. "They don't live in the cemeteries."

"Then what are they doing here? On a ship? On our Black Pearl?" Nasim asked, raising one eyebrow. Andy met his eye and then shrugged.

"Hey, you said Robin wouldn't do this without telling us," Nasim said slowly.

"Yeah, so?"

"Well, he didn't ever tell us what happened to his hand," Nasim remembered. Andy didn't say anything, but she looked worried.


	23. 23 Andy

"Chiron said we were not to put to shore," Robin told Nasim politely.

"We should!" Nasim said. "I'm telling you that triremes aren't supposed to be out at water this long." Andy rolled her eyes; the boys had been arguing all morning. Apparently, Hecate had seen fit to send Nasim a new bit of trivia: if they remained at sea much longer the Black Pearl was going to start falling apart at the seams. Robin didn't think they should land yet. Andy turned her head to the side and saw, for the first time, that another boat was following them.

"Uh, guys?" Andy called, leaning farther over the starboard rail. "I think you ought to know: the coast guard's after us." Nasim and Robin broke off their argument and ran to her side. Leaning out in a likewise manner, they caught sight of the ship that was closing in on their slow, archaic trireme.

"That's not the coast guard," Nasim said. "That's the Marines. Look at the seal."

"I don't see any sea lions," Andy commented.

"A seal isn't a sea lion," Nasim said absently.

"They're getting closer," Robin said, straightening up.

"Well, their average speed is 35 knots, and ours is only 8," Nasim said at once. "How are we supposed to outrun them?"

Robin looked preoccupied and worried. "Andy, Nasim, stay here," he told them. He turned and ran away, disappearing past the mast.

He was gone a while, and the other ship got close enough that Andy and Nasim could see the Marines moving around on their deck.

"I'm going to see if I can summon a wind," Nasim said. "Get us out of here."

Then suddenly the entire ship jerked and leapt forward. Nasim and Andy were knocked off their feet and onto the deck. Lying there, Andy could hear the slapping of the waves grow louder and even felt a few drops of saltwater splatter onto her face.

She scrambled to her feet and looked back. The Marines were not gone, but their approach was slower because the large oars that had been powering the trireme had increased in speed. They dipped deep into the water and strongly rose again, pushing the ship forward with each pass.

"Still not fast enough," Robin said, reappearing and helping Nasim to his feet.

"I can help," the Arab boy said. "Here." He closed his eyes and stretched out his hands; purple light began to grow around them. Andy's hair stirred as a breeze, the first one in days, whispered past her. Other bits of wind and breeze gathered toward Nasim like moths drawn to a flame. He gathered them, catching the skeins of moving air into a glowing purple ball.

Then, with all the practice of a baseball player, he lobbed the ball of wind towards the sails. The ball caught in the canvas, which bellied out, full.

"Nasim, can you by any chance jam their mechanism?" Robin asked thoughtfully.

"I thought you'd never ask," Nasim grinned as the Black Pearl began to put some distance between herself and the Marines.

Nasim pointed one finger at the pursuing ship. Suddenly, a large amount of black smoke steamed up from the deck and the Marines began to broil around the deck as their ship clunked to a stop.

"Excellent!" Robin chuckled, clapping Nasim on the back. "Now I just need to tell Baios..." he voice faded away as he once more walked away from them.

"Who?" Andy asked Nasim.

"I don't know," he shrugged, still admiring his work. "Maybe someone he can reach by Iris messaging."

"Maybe it's a ghost," Andy giggled. Nasim laughed too and then began to gather another ball of wind. Andy turned back to look over the water and frowned; it seemed like the slice of land visible to the right was growing thinner.

"Are we moving away from the shore?" Andy asked suddenly. Nasim tossed the second ball into the sail and moved to her side.

"We've altered directions," Robin said, coming up behind them again. He jumped lightly up onto the railing, holding on to a rope and leaning out precariously; checking to make sure the marines were still at a standstill, Andy thought. "We're heading out to open ocean. Hopefully we will lose the mortals' ship."

"Can the Pearl take the open sea?" Andy asked. "Whoa, I never thought that I would say something like that. I feel like a pirate!"

"Triremes once had full fledged battles in the Mare Nostrum," Robin said. "She will hold."

"Mare Nostrum," Nasim repeated. "Our sea. In Latin." That particular dead language seemed to be popping up quite a bit lately. "It refers to the Mediterranean Sea, where all the great epics took place."

"Like the Bermuda Triangle," Andy mused. "Gods, I hope this quest doesn't take us there!"

"It might," Nasim told her. "And probably will."

A/N: Footnotes:

Baios: helmsman of Odysseus


	24. 24 Robin

A/N: Sorry about the long time between updates. Fanfiction wouldn't let me edit this story. But it's working now and here's the next chapter...

Robin was just checking up on Baios the helmsman when he ran into Odysseus. Quite literally_ into_ him, and Robin was seized with such an intense cold that he went rigid and almost fainted. Odysseus stepped back, looked like he wanted to catch the boy's shoulders as though to steady him, and then thought better of it.

"We're making good time," the ghost said instead. "Your witch friend's summoning of the winds - "

"He's not a witch," Robin said, shivering convulsively and rubbing his arms.

"Fine," Odysseus said. "The point is, we're going much faster than before. Are we still heading the right way?"

"Of course," Robin said. And they were. He could _feel_ it.

"You know, this entire thing reminds me of a quest I went on with Diomedes," Odysseus recalled. He smiled but it was humorless. "To steal the famed Palladium from Troy. Of course - "

"What did you say?" Robin demanded.

"The Palladium," Odysseus repeated. "Diomedes and I stole it."

Robin's mouth dropped open and he stood there for a moment, still as a deer who's heard a twig crack in the forest. Then he turned and bounded away.

"Nasim! Andy! We had it wrong!" he called.

"What? Had what wrong?" Andy demanded.

"It is not a statue of Artemis, it cannot be!" Robin said.

"Why not?" Nasim frowned. "I thought this had happened before..."

"Exactly!" Robin said. "And the goddess of the hunt would never let it happen again. No, we're looking for the Palladium."

"... Sounds like the name of a movie theater," Andy said.

"No, it's a chemical element," Nasim said. "Atomic number 46."

"No!" Robin insisted, shaking his head. "It's not. It is a statue of Pallas."

"Athena?" Nasim asked. "We're looking for a statue of Athena?"

"No, the Palladium was erected in honor of Pallas, the beloved friend of Athena," Robin explained. "Set within the walls of Troy, the city could not be taken unless the Palladium was brought outside of the city. Odysseus and Diomedes stole it with bloodied hands - "

"That's not true!" Odysseus had followed Robin and he looked furious. "I would never defame the goddess's statue!"

"But that still doesn't say why it's the Palladium we're looking for," Andy said over Odysseus's voice, which she couldn't hear.

"The Palladium was never returned to Athena," Robin explained. "It was taken by Diomedes to Greece, and then given to Aeneas the Roman - "

"I though Aeneas was a Trojan," Nasim said.

"Yes, originally," Robin consented. "The important thing is that it somehow managed to find its way to Rome. And from Rome to Constantinople... do you not see? It has been passed from city to city, protecting each one, never returning home. Furthermore, we know Artemis would never have kidnapped a maiden as ransom for her statue. No, this entire plot it too strategic, it reeks of Athena."

"Are you insulting my patron?" Odysseus growled, unsheathing his sword. Robin cast one glance at it then ignored the ghost king.

"Yes, that makes sense," Nasim said and Andy was nodding thoughtfully. Robin could have sworn her eyes darted to the place Odysseus was standing, but then she looked away quickly.

"Robin, what's wrong with your hand?" she demanded suddenly. Robin stared at her for a moment, utterly bemused.

"I cut it on one of my arrows. Accidentally," he said.

"Robin, you're a terrible liar," Andy told him.

"Thank you," he said. She continued to look at him expectantly.

"I'm not happy about striking open waters," he said instead. "Nasim is right. We should land soon. The trireme isn't supposed to be out in the water more than a few days at a time and it's been nearly a week."

"Don't even think you can change the subject so easily," Andy warned, snatching his hand and ripping the bandages off.

The cut had healed, but there would probably always be an arrow-shaped scar there - in which case, Robin would never retrieve the eagle-arrow. Now, with the sun low in the sky, the ridged scar cast a feather shaped shadow across the back of his hand.

Nasim whistled and Andy looked furious. "Robin! What happened?"

"It doesn't matter," he lied again. "Will fixed it."

"You'll have that the rest of your life," Nasim said sympathetically.

"Yes, I am aware," sighed Robin, miserable. Andy frowned at him; her eyes flickered once more towards where Odysseus stood (who, by the way, did not look at all remorseful) and then let go of Robin's hand. He stooped to collect the bandages and looked at them blankly.

"What's wrong?" Odysseus asked.

"What's wrong?" Nasim asked, not aware he was repeating the ghost.

"I said it first," Odysseus fumed.

"It is nothing," Robin said, shaking his head. "Only... with Artemis, you knew that Oenone was safe. But Athena... you never know what she'll plan."

Nasim placed a hand on Robin's shoulder and Andy nodded. But Odysseus looked somber and silent: he knew better than anyone who the grey-eyed goddess could be. He was the mortal who had most resembled the fierce goddess.

Robin wandered over to the stern. He stood there, his eyes closed and enjoying the wind on his face. Without opening his eyes, he knew that Odysseys had joined him.

"What would you have done?" Robin asked.

"I don't - "

"You know the flashing-eyed one better than anyone," Robin interrupted. "So if you wanted your statue retrieved and decided the best way to do it was to - " He'd been about to say kidnapped, then decided against it. " - capture a girl and rely on her one friend who is still alive to come and find her... _what would you do_?"

"I'd keep her safe," Odysseus said softly. "I'd treat her with respect and place her among guards I trusted. The grey-eyed one sees you as an ally, son of Calliope. She would not do anything to compromise your trust."

"She already has," Robin whispered, a tear tracing its way down his cheek.

The ghost was quiet for a moment. "You should put ashore at the Fort of Lauderdale," he instructed. "There you will find a god who can help you, if you earn his trust."

"I thought all the gods were on Olympus, or in the Underworld," Robin said, eyes flashing open.

"This one... doesn't prefer living on Olympus," Odysseus said. "He's not too fond of Olympians."

"Oh, good," Robin said, his mouth twisting.

"Careful, son of Calliope," Odysseus chuckled. "Or you'll turn into me." He gave another ghostly chuckle and vanished. Robin shuddered; he wasn't sure if Odysseus meant that Robin would become sarcastic, twisted, or any of Odysseus's other less favorable qualities, or if he would end up dead. Possibly both, though Robin would have preferred the latter.


	25. 25 Andy

Andy got out the map and they tried to figure out roughly where they were and where they were going.

"Jacksonville, North Carolina has a Marine base," Nasim noted, tapping the small city's location on the map."

"So we altered course around there," Robin noted. They'd been out in open waters, out of sight of land, for several days. The Black Pearl had not fallen apart so far, but Nasim had had to plug several leaks with magic. Robin seemed to think that as soon as they got to shore the trireme would fall apart.

"And where is Fort Lauderdale?" Robin asked. Andy pointed to the Florida city; Robin had decided the day they'd changed course that they were heading to Fort Lauderdale and hadn't changed his mind since.

"That just leaves the question of where we are now," Nasim commented. Andy could have sworn that a silvery hand appeared out of nowhere and pointed to a spot on the map.

"Around here," Robin said, circling the area the disjointed hand had picked out.

"Did you see that?" Andy asked Robin.

"See what?" he seemed genuinely confused and, since he was completely hopeless at lying, Andy was forced to believe that only she could see the ghost's hand.

Or she was going crazy. I mean, I've always been heading that way, Andy thought to herself. It was only a matter of time.

"How much longer do you make that?" Robin asked.

"A few days," Nasim said. "Three, maybe four."

"Can the Pearl make it?"

"I don't know," Nasim said seriously. "Do you think you can... um, read anything I can work with?"

"I'm not sure," Robin said, shaking his head. "Perhaps, if I had my _Argonautica_... I can try to remember the verse."

Robin had Andy stand at the middle of the ship so that if there were any sudden rocking or disturbance of the boat she would not be thrown into the water. Then, as before, he had Nasim place his hands on his shoulders as he lifted both hands and began to recite.

At first, the words came haltingly, as though he did not know if they were quite right. But Robin's voice rapidly grew stronger and faster as if his mother supplied him with the proper verse.

"They strongly girded the ship with a rope well twisted within, stretching it tight on each side, in order that the planks might be well compacted by the bolts and might withstand the opposing force of the surge." Andy shifted nervously as she began to hear the popping and groaning of the planks beneath her feet.

"And above, on both sides, reversing the oars, they fastened them round the thole-pins, so as to project a cubit's space. And the heroes themselves stood on both sides at the oars in a row, and pushed forward with chest and hand at once. They at once, leaning with all their strength, with one push started the ship from her place, and strained with their feet, forcing her onward; and she glided into the sea."

Andy began to notice that they were sinking and she heard a crash that was louder than the others. With a start of fear, she heard the swish of water rushing in below deck.

"Robin, we're sinking!" Andy yelled. The boy didn't look up, but raised his hands higher and his voice boomed out over the mast and the riggings, reaching every corner of the ship.

"But the heroes stood there and kept dragging her back as she sped onward. And round the thole-pins they fitted the oars, and in the ship they placed the mast and the well-made sails and the stores."

The Black Pearl made a sounding like a grating roar as she tossed upon the calm waters and Andy screamed. She saw Nasim's hands clenched like vices upon Robin's shoulders and they were tossed to the deck together. Andy lost her footing as well and went tumbling down.

She clenched her eyes shut and, as suddenly as it had begun, the rocking of the ship ceased. The rush of water below her head stopped and no more creaks or crashes came.

"Oh gods, we're dead aren't we?" Andy asked, her eyes still tightly shut.

She heard Robin respond with a mirthful laugh and the sound of him leaping to his feet and running towards the prow of the ship.

Andy slowly opened her eyes, still not sure that they weren't dead. From here she could see that Nasim's eyes were closed, his hands wrapped over his head as though to protect it from falling debris.

Andy rolled onto her side and began to crawl towards where Robin stood. She got there and carefully used the railing to lift herself into a standing position.

The Black Pearl stood high in the water, her side smooth and unblemished by barnacles and whatever other living debris normally clung to the sides and underbellies of ships. She shone with varnish, as good as new.

And, so far ahead one might have thought they were imagining it, was a sliver of land.

"Land ho," Andy whispered, her lips curving into a smile.

A/N: Footnotes:

The passage Robin recites comes from the _Argonautica_ by Apollonius, book 1.


	26. 26 Nasim

With all of its canals, Fort Lauderdale was a wannabe Venice. Only it was in Florida and there were palm trees. Luckily, there were a number of yachts sailing around, so the Black Pearl was viewed as some private yachter's eccentricity.

They sailed into one of the hundred boatyards and docked the Pearl at an empty spot. Then - not knowing anything about where they were going or who they were looking for - Nasim, Andy, and Robin disembarked with their weapons and belongings.

"It feels icky," Andy complained. It was, indeed, very moist. Oh, and did he mention that when you were at sea a long time you apparently became so used to the rocking of the ship that when you got on land you staggered around like a drunken fool? That, combined with the length of the muhaddab, was making this entire shore excursion very unpleasant.

As they walked along the canals, Nasim lazily wondered what the mortals thought they saw in the three teenagers. Probably three raggedly dressed strangers who were as lethargic in the afternoon heat as everyone else in this city. Robin got a few glances from passerby, but they were nearly always admiring and occasionally flirtatious. But Robin wove through the streets so quickly that people barely had time to see them before they were gone.

"So... you do know where we're going?" Andy asked Robin, addressing her question to Star-shooter and his quiver because Robin was currently leading them single file along the edge of the sidewalk.

"I have a general idea," his shoulders hitched up in a shrug. It rather reminded Nasim of the way a crow shrugs.

Andy was limping slightly and Nasim was panting, sweating, and slightly annoyed by the time Robin stopped. To Nasim's surprise, the other boy looked overwhelmed and claustrophobic. His eyes were wild, like everything was moving too quickly and there was too much for him to handle. Nasim guessed that living on his own in the forest for the past two hundred years, Robin found the city too crowded and much too fast.

"Where are we?" Andy asked, putting her weight on one leg and resting the other.

"Thunderbird Swap Shop," Nasim said.

"How'd you know that?" Andy asked. "Trivia?"

"No," he said, pointing up to the fancy, curving letters that were beginning to light up on the top of a large yellow wall.

"Oh. Right. Use eyes," Andy nodded. "So... why are we here?"

"A friend told me to meet someone in this city," Robin said. "I think that we shall find them here."

"Baios?" Nasim asked sharply.

"No," Robin said, looking confused. "Where did you hear that name?"

"Don't know," Nasim muttered, but he met Andy's eye meaningfully.

"So how do we find... whoever?" Andy asked Robin.

"Well, I would assume that we should purchase tickets," Robin suggested. "Correct? People still buy tickets for the theater?"

"Yeah, but I think the theater's changed since you last went," Nasim noted.

They bought three tickets for a movie called _Burnt by the Sun_.

"Robin, this movie isn't in English," Andy complained.

"Movie?" Robin asked, confused.

"Moving picture," Nasim tried to explain. "It's a recording of a... well, kind of like a play. Yeah, it's a play with the same people performed the same way over and over again."

"Oh," Robin said, and it was clear he didn't really understand. "Doesn't that get boring?"

"Surprisingly... no," Nasim said. "However, unless this has subtitles, this movie may be really boring. Unless you speak Russian."

"Imperial Russia?" Robin asked.

"Dude, how long ago where you born?" Nasim asked. Robin shrugged and gave the tickets to the man.

"What was it like living in the forest?" Andy asked Robin as they followed the crowd inside. "Did you feel how long all the years were?"

"I think it was like everyone's life," Robin said. They saw it was a drive-in show, but there was a bench at the back where they could sit. The light posts around the parking lot dimmed and the screen lit up as they made themselves comfortable.

"You live each day and it seems long," Robin explained. "But when you look back - "

"In the blink of an eye," Andy finished.

The movie was set in the Soviet Union in the summer of 1936 and was about the family of a Colonel when the soviets arrived. And yes, there were subtitles.

About fifteen minutes into the film, the three of them were joined by an older looking man. He was middle-aged, but his hair - thick and red - had no grey or white hairs and did not look dyed. He was handsome and the light from the screen played across his face, making it glow.

Nasim could have sworn the man's eyes were solid gold.

"I love this movie," the man told them, without taking his strange eyes off the screen. His voice reminded Nasim a little bit of his father's accent. Considering the man's hair, Nasim had been expecting a northern European accent, not Middle Eastern.

"I've been waiting for you," the man continued. "I must admit, I never expected to see heroes come to me for help ever again."

"When was the last time?" Robin asked without even a pause. Nasim looked over at Andy and was glad that at least one other person was surprised that some random guy who sat down next to them was an immortal who knew all about heroes. Then again, it probably wasn't random.

"A very, very long time," the man smiled. Nasim couldn't help but be drawn to that smile, which was bright and sunny. "I'm Helios, god of the Sun." He clasped Robin's hand with another brilliant smile.

"I thought Apollo was..." Andy's voice trailed away as Robin shot her an uncharacteristic glare.

"No, it's quite alright," Helios said, but he seemed a little hurt. "I understand how it works. I took over my job from my dad, Hyperion. But that was different, you know? Keeping it in the family. Father-son business. Then Apollo came along. He was cool, young, everyone liked him. Hades,_ I_ liked him! He became the god of light, and that was fine."

The light hit Helios's face and made it look as though he was surrounded by a golden glow. But then, it was probably not a trick of the light.

"No one really knows when it happened," Helios sighed. "I guessed you could say I was 'phased out'. At first, he was just the god of light. Then one day, I realized he was the god of the sun. I don't even remember when he took my chariot and started driving it. Same thing happened to my sister, Selene the moon goddess. Apollo's twin, Artemis, pushed Selene out of business."

"She took it better than me," Helios admitted. He was still talking quietly so that the occupants of nearby cars were not looking at them. "She had Endymion."

"Her lover," Robin explained, because Andy and Nasim looked confused. "Eternally sleeping."

"Yeah, she was worried that he'd be annoying if he ever woke up," Helios laughed. "At least Eos got to stay in business. She's the goddess of the dawn. I think after what happened to Tithonus the other Olympians felt sorry for her. But we never lived on Olympus. I had my own place. Still do, but it's falling apart a little. The sisters still live there. It's not too far from here, actually. Don't think I'm inviting you little half-bloods over."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Nasim commented wryly.

"Who are you?" Helios asked. "Who are all of you? I want to remember the first demigods who came to Helios for help."

"Robin, son of Calliope," Robin placed a hand on his heart, then gestured to Andy and Nasim. "Andromache, daughter of Macaria. Nasim, son of Hecate."

"A son of Hecate?" Helios's interest was clearly peaked. "I love children of the Three-Faced goddess! I had several girls who could work magic, maybe you've heard of them? I was always known as the father of witches." He chuckled to himself and then said, "I'd be glad to help a son of Hecate. What can I do for you?"

"We seek the Palladium," Nasim answered. "And the water nymph Oenone."

"Well, where else would you find a water nymph?" Helios laughed sunnily. "In the water marshes, of course!"

"You mean... the Everglades?" Andy asked. Helios smiled brightly at them as the credits began to roll across the screen and the first few engines started up.

"Gotta run," Helios grinned, standing up and shaking all their hands. "Nice to meet you son of Hecate."

"Didn't you have a crown?" Andy blurted out.

"Yes, long ago," Helio sighed. "Sadly it was stolen."

"Well, can't you have a quest assigned?" Andy asked.

"Ah, think daughter of Macaria," Helios said, shaking his head and smiling wryly. "Who assigns the quests?"

"The Oracle," Andy answered automatically.

"And Apollo controls the Oracle," Nasim realized.

"Exactly, Hecate's son," Helios inclined his head. "And the crown is my symbol of powers. Should I have it upon my brow once more, I could rise again like the glorious sun. Here, take these backpacks; they have food inside them. Goodbye little godlings."

Nasim could not help but wonder if Helios was bidding them goodbye for now, or forever. That's the sort of cheerful thought demigods have.

A/N: Footnotes:

Helios: the original god of the sun, the son of Hyperion. His sisters were Selene, the moon, and Eos, the dawn. He lived in a golden palace in the East. Rather than Apollo, whose chariot was the sun, Helios _is_ the sun and is often depicted with crown-like rays around his head. The sun god was the father of Circe, and since many witches have golden eyes, Helios is considered to be the "father of witches".

Selene and Endymion: Selene saw a sleeping shepherd and fell in love with him. She asked Zeus to keep the shepherd young and immortal, but also to make sure he eternally slept, because she was afraid she would not like him once he woke.

Eos and Tithonus: Eos fell in love with a mortal boy and asked Zeus to make him immortal. However, she forgot to ask that he be given eternal youth. Tithonus aged, but could not die, and eventually he became a cricket.


	27. 27 Andy

It was dark and, while Fort Lauderdale wasn't exactly New York City, Andy was still a little frightened. They had to pass through an area of a lot of nightclubs and bars on their way to the bus station. They had to walk in shadows most of the time, walking in and out of the fizzing glow of neon lights.

"So, Robin, I don't know how much you know about the Everglades," Nasim said. "But... it's not exactly the boardwalk."

"Board... walk?" Robin asked, squeezing to the side of the sidewalk as a three young, drunken men singing off-key passed by.

"What Nasim's trying to say is that: if the alligators don't kill you the mosquitos will," Andy supplied.

"Oh. Alligators?" Robin said, still confused.

"This is probably going to be impossible to explain," Nasim sighed. "Like cars... electric lights... plastic... any boat built after 1700."

"Giant lizards that swim," Andy tried.

"I thought you said those were called dinosaurs?" Robin said, briefly lit up as he walked under a sign that spelled "perGa inev". Well, it probably didn't spell perGa inev, but the bright green letters that curled in an exquisite, illegible pattern that a dyslexic like Andy couldn't read. What she could make out were a bunch of violet circles stacked on top of each other in a symbol that vaguely resembled grapes.

Suddenly the door of the perGa inev opened and a group of extremely intoxicated women poured out. They looked a little like a bachelorette party, all wearing midriff- showing pink sequined halter tops and metallic feather boas. One of them wore a plastic rhinestone tiara fashioned to look like grape leaves, and clearly led the group. Unfortunately, the timing of their exit trapped Robin in the middle of them.

Andy had seen the uncomfortable look on Robin's face earlier, but now he looked slightly frightened. No, he looked downright scared and looked back at Andy and Nasim with terrified hazel eyes that were begging a rescue.

"Oooh, who's this?" one of the women squealed, catching Robin's shoulders. He tried to push the hands off, but the woman's long, claw-like red nails tightened.

"Handsome, ain't he?" another woman giggled, pinching Robin's cheek and leaving a red welt. The women clustered around him, nearly blocking Robin from Andy and Nasim's view.

Robin did not cry out, but he continued to struggle weakly, as though afraid of hurting his assailants.

"Come on!" Nasim said, leaping forward, but even he looked worried about pushing his way past the women. Andy had no such reservations and she barreled forward, kicking out at shins. She felt her shoe connect with something thin, which cracked.

One of the woman shrieked as her stiletto heel broke and she fell back into Andy's arms. Andy, nose wrinkling with disgust, pushed the woman off into one of her drunk friends. The friend - intent on trying to join the fun of teasing Robin - tried to push past her and the two took their struggle into the street where the jubilant cries of "cat fight!" spurred on their aggression as they exchanged claw mark for claw mark.

This left Andy's field of vision cleared.

Robin was at the center of the struggle and Andy could clearly see the woman clawing at Robin's face. His arms were up, weakly trying to block their attacks. Some of the drunken girls had grabbed Robin's shoulders and were shaking him forcibly.

Andy pushed more of them away and they began to fall back. The only one left was the one in the silver tiara. She gave a hysterical laugh and clutched at Robin's hair as she turned and fled. The boy cried out in pain as she ripped out a lock of his hair and the robin feather.

Nasim and Andy caught Robin and lowered him to the ground. His eyes were watering in pain, but he seemed to recover fairly quickly. Long red scratches marked his face and he held one hand to where his hair had been torn out. As he flexed his fingers, the scar on the back of his hand suddenly split and began to bleed freely.

"M - " Robin swallowed and tried again. "Maenads."

"Who?" Andy asked.

"The raving ones," Nasim said quietly. "Female followers of Dionysus."

"Wait a second," Andy remembered. "Didn't they - ?" Nasim nodded but put a finger to his lips. Andy understood: Robin had just had a terrible shock and mentioning his half-brother's death wasn't a good idea.

"They took my feather," Robin said hoarsely. "I don't have another robin feather."

"After that you're worrying about a robin feather?" Nasim laughed, clearly trying to sound cheerful and put a hand on Robin's shoulder. "Come on, it's not that important, is it?"

Robin was quiet for a moment, then slowly said, "No. It doesn't matter."

A/N: Footnotes:

Maenads: mortal women who devoted themselves to the worship of Dionysus. They did so by drinking and dancing until they were in a frenzy; sometimes in this state of madness they would attack young men (such as Orpheus) and kill them.


	28. 28 Robin

Robin's cheeks still stung but at least his hair was long enough to cover the torn area. He'd slept a surprisingly long time - the entire bus ride - but Andy assured him that that was common after a shock. Robin had never had a shock before.

But still, _maenads_. The one group of beings - well, technically they were mere mortals - who had caused his mother to worry so and to create the green wood to protect him. And as soon as he set foot in the true mortal world, they had attacked him.

Yet despite all this, Robin was thrilled. Because they were getting closer.

Andy and Nasim had seriously wanted to rent something called a "fan boat", but Robin had pointed out that it came with a mortal guide and they couldn't afford to lose him or have him get hurt or freak out and try to drown them. With that irrefutable logic, and the promise that they would soon be eaten by either a living dinosaur or a tiny insect, they took a canoe.

Apparently there wasn't that much solid ground in the Everglades and the man who rented the boat to them assured them that, "If you try to walk in the opelika, you will sink to your knees. It's not the gators or skeeters you gotsta worry 'bout, it's the big swamp."

"Thanks?" Nasim said questioningly, handing the money over. The man laughed at that and his throaty chuckling followed them out the door and as they took to the canoe and began to paddle away.

As they headed into the marshlands, Robin suddenly frowned, his head turning sideways like a dog who's caught a scent.

"This isn't right," Robin said. "She's not in the swamp. At least, she's not this way."

"But this is the way Helios said to go," Nasim countered.

"The waterways are pretty twisting," Andy shrugged. "Maybe if we go this way, we'll wind up in the right place."

That was when Robin began to be worried, but he didn't argue. Well, he had actually begun to be worried when he'd reached his hand up and the feather wasn't there anymore. The feather that had been in his hair since his hair was long enough to hold it. Calliope had put it in there herself, her gentle hands twining his dark brown strands around the shaft of the feather.

Robin was aware that he was pushing the others to go faster, that they were struggling to keep up, but neither of them said anything.

They were getting farther away. Robin started to panic.

"Robin, we need to slow down!" Andy panted.

"Something's wrong!" Robin growled. "We're getting farther away!"

"Well, which way should we go?" Nasim gasped.

"That way," Robin said, gesturing off to the left through the unbroken line of cypress trees. Water, thick and congealed with plant life, blocked any way leading off that led off to the left.

Suddenly, he gave an angry whistle. It warbled in the air, thrumming and rising. Robin turned his head and gave another whistle, gentler this time and pulsing over and between the trees. The waters almost looked like they rippled.

It came out of the woods, its great white wings like an angel. Gracefully, peaceful as a dove, the snowy egret perched on the edge of the canoe and looked at Robin with bright yellow eyes.

He met its strange eyes and began to mutter and chirp softly, the egret occasionally dipped its great head once or twice. When Robin paused, the egret tilted its head to the side and gave a scratchy, low call. It clacked its black beak three times and gently took off. Looking back over his shoulder, the egret called again as it winged away.

Without speaking, they turned the boat and followed.

"Reminds me of the fox," Andy said quietly. "The one who led us through Adirondack to the green wood."

"I did not send a fox," Robin said, his voice calmer. "But I know one who would. Kivese chose foxes for her symbol; she thought of them as her own personal joke. Foxes are members of the dog family, but they resemble cats in their manners and nature. Just as Kivese felt closer to mortals than gods."

The egret whispered beside him. _Not much farther, bird without wings,_ he assured Robin. Birds had always called Robin that, though the feathered ones didn't speak as humans do. Robin understood many languages, but the language of birds was a call, a dip of the beak, and a flick of the wings.

And the bird, a water creature who was the embodiment of all that was patience and strength, the one who could communicate with the gods, promised Robin that they were going the right way. So why did he still feel like they were moving farther away?

"Robin, it's getting dark," Andy noted. Robin looked up, surprised. Indeed, it was darkening, but the egret seemed to glow with light as he continued to wing forward.

At last, when all they could see was the brightness of the snowy feathers, the egret banked to the right and landed on a branch that was invisible in the dark.

_Safe nest here, _the egret told Robin.

The boy responded with an inquisitive trill.

_Safe nest here_, the egret repeated. _Don't fly by night, one without wings._

The canoe jarred to a stop with a gentle squelch. "Some sort of island," Nasim muttered. "I wonder if it's safe here."

"It is," Robin assured him, jumping out and splashing in ankle deep water. He pulled the boat up further onto the firm land. His hand flared with pain as he did so and he felt a tiny drop of blood licked its way down the back of his hand.

"No, I mean whether the alligators are going to come up here and eat us while we sleep," Nasim told him, jumping out as well. Robin could just make out the dim outline of the son of Hecate. Suddenly a bright purple fire sprang to life in Nasim's palm, lighting the entire scene with an eerie, dancing light.

_I'll watch over you_, the egret promised.

"We'll be safe," Robin told Nasim and the boy apparently trusted him. They had no blankets, no sleeping bags, so they settled for tucking their packs under their heads and - fingers curled around their prepared weapons - drifted to sleep.

As Robin's eyes began to close, he saw the egret framed against the star-pocked sky.


	29. 29 Andy

Andy had had just about enough of people being able to speak to animals. I mean, Robin acts like the heron is his _mother_, Andy sighed. The bird was a heron right? Or, like, an ornamental goose? Anywho, Robin put absolute trust that the bird was leading them right, even though he'd confessed that he had the feeling they were still heading the wrong way.

The ornamental goose led them farther and farther into the swamp. Andy swore she saw at least five alligators lurking on the edge of the waterways, but they came no closer to the canoe. Like the ornamental goose was keeping them back. But birds did not have battles of wits with crocodilians.

"We're so totally lost," Andy groaned.

"Which means we're so totally dead," Nasim sighed. Andy guessed that he had also spotted the alligators.

"We'll be fine," Robin said. He had become tense and somber, a total change from his normal cheerful, laughing self.

The ornamental goose turned down one of the many tributaries and disappeared. They paddled the canoe after it and suddenly came out into an open space flooded with water. Tall green reeds filled the space, making it look as though they were paddling through a field. Andy's paddle scraped against the muddy bottom, so the water couldn't have been shallower than three feet.

"Sawgrass marsh," Nasim reported.

A white-washed, twisted branched stuck up out of the center of the marsh and the egret had settled there.

"Something's over there," Robin said, and they started to go faster. But the water quickly became too shallow and Robin leapt out of the canoe, which quickly rose in the water. The boy splashed through the water, the reeds impeding his running. Nasim met Andy's eyes and they scrambled out to follow.

"I swear by all the gods, if I get eaten by the ticking crocodile I'm going to kill Robin," Nasim muttered.

Robin gave a growl of frustration as he got to the dead tree. The egret winged away like a ghost, leaving the boy standing under the tree.

"She isn't here," Robin's strangled voice came back to them. "No one's here!"

"Someone was here," Andy whispered, coming level with Robin. Up close, she could see that the tree had several branches that plunged down into the water like a white, bony hand. And in between the branches there was a weathered stone pedestal, like a miniature megalith. And seated on the pedestal, looking like it had been carved a few years ago, was a wooden figure of a woman that stood at about a foot tall. She may have been painted once, but that was long ago and the colors had faded.

"The Palladium," Nasim breathed as he arrived, untangling reeds from his pant legs.

A silver chain had been wrapped around the statue's waist and trailed down to bracket set in the monolith. A tiny silver lock dangled from the chain.

"But Oenone isn't here!" Robin snarled, turning to splash around to the other side of the Palladium.

"Chain looks weak," Nasim muttered. "I might be able to break it." He laid his hands on the links, which flared purple and then returned to their normal state. There was no visible change and Nasim looked worried.

"I don't suppose we can just pick it up and carry it away," Andy sighed, then tried. Of course (no surprise) she couldn't even lift the statue from its pedestal.

"Finally, this quest is starting to feel like a real, normal quest," Andy said, slightly satisfied. "Things were getting too easy."

"The ship fell apart and we got attacked by maenads and you think this quest is easy?" Nasim asked.

"She _was_ here." Robin's voice was so low that Andy almost missed it.

"How do you know?" Nasim asked, walking around to the other side of the tree and coming to Robin's side. Andy followed and saw Robin gazing down at the water.

"She's a water nymph," Robin explained. "They cleanse the water around them."

"Like a water purifier?" Andy asked.

"See how the water is clearer here than anywhere else in the swamp?" Robin asked, pointing between the reeds. Indeed, the water did sparkle and wink back at Andy and she could see a minnow dart away amid the tall reeds.

"And the sawgrass is greener," Robin added, his fingers gently caressing a stem of the plant. Andy looked around and saw that the reeds nearest them were indeed brighter than their fellows farther away.

"Wherever she is," Nasim said slowly. "I'd bet a drachma the key to this chain is with her."

"How will we find her?" Andy whined. Robin smiled and pointed down; the sawgrass that was greener trailed away a few feet, marking a clear path.

"Besides," Robin said. "We could always ask another water nymph."

Andy had been about to ask where they would find another naiad, then was really glad she didn't because that would have been the single stupidest thing she'd ever said in her life: they were in a wetlands.

Robin knelt in the water, seemingly not caring that he was getting soaked. He trailed his fingers in the water and closed his eyes, whispering.

"Holy, oblique, who swiftly soar through air, fountains, and dews, and winding streams your care, seen and unseen," he muttered, his voice just loud enough for Andy to hear. "Who joy with wandering wide, and gentle course through flowery vales to glide. Hear my prayer."

"Look," Nasim breathed, and Andy looked up. At the very edges of the marsh came a ripple, causing the sawgrass to wave and nod their heads. Their canoe, held in place only because of the thickness of the plants, bobbed gently.

"Robin," Andy said, her voice cracking slightly.

"Do not be afraid," Robin said quietly. "They will not hurt you."

The ripple grew closer and closer, the water rising at least a foot higher than usual and threatening to drench Robin entirely.

And the water kept rising and rising until the ripples stood at the height of Nasim. And they stopped their advance, suddenly separating themselves into distinct forms.

About twelve girls, their forms rippling like clear water, stood in a circle around the Palladium. Their colors ranged from purple to blue to green. Most of them were green. Only one of them had a solid, flesh-like form.

She had greenish skin and glowing, silvery eyes. Her hair was dark green and looked a little like sawgrass. The gown she wore was woven of reeds and stopped just above the knees. She, like her fellows, were turned toward Robin - not the Palladium.

"Vetetv ahmoglee ocalee, focshwah whononwah?" the girl asked in a language Andy did not understand.

"_There was a girl here_," Robin responded in Greek. "_Where is she now_?"

"_You speak Greek_," the naiad smiled, then pointed. "_Our sister is that way. In the Hippolyte School for Girls_."

"_How far_?" Robin asked.

"_Outside the water lands,_" the naiad responded. "_We will guide you._"

"_Thank you_," Robin said, nodding.

Two of the girls had drifted away and their watery hands found the edges of the canoe, pulling it closer.

"What about the Palladium?" Nasim asked.

"You bet a drachma that the key is with Oenone," Robin reminded him. "Now, the sawgrass naiad knows where Oenone is. Are you still willing to risk that drachma?" Robin got into the canoe, still being held steady by the two nymphs. He settled down, his legs crossed and his palms resting on his knees.

Andy and Nasim met each others eye and the boy shrugged. "Sure," he agreed, getting into the canoe as well. Andy followed, casting nervous glances at the two watery girls. Almost immediately all twelve nymphs melted back into the water, but Andy could still see their faces looking up at them.

The canoe jerked and began to move forward more rapidly than should be possible as the naiads grasped the bottom of the boat and began to pull it along swiftly as a fish swimming.

"Okay, this is _way_ better than a fan boat," Andy grinned as the wind whipped her hair back.

A/N: Footnotes

The Ticking Crocodile: a Peter Pan reference

"Holy, oblique, who swiftly...": To the Nymphs, from the Initiations of Orpheus

"Vetetv ahmoglee...": my admittedly pathetic attempt to replicate the Miccossukee language. The Miccossukees Indians live in and around the Florida Everglades.


	30. 30 Nasim

Nasim guessed that while it was about the same distance out of the Everglades as into them, but the water nymphs whisked them along so quickly that it only took about half as long.

He noticed that when they changed from one stream to another there was a change in the appearance of the naiads pulling them along. As soon as they left the sawgrass marsh, the nymph who had spoken to Robin became as indistinct as the others and another naiad, with dark skin and blue hair, took form. Every time they entered a new stream the same thing happened: one nymph faded out and another faded in. Nasim could only guess that they took a more realistic form as they entered their home stream or marsh.

He wondered what Oenone would look like when they reached her. Whether she could be clear as water, or have blue hair and glowing green eyes.

The twelve nymphs began to leave, one at a time, so that the speed of the canoe gradually slowed to a halt. Only one nymph remained, a younger looking one with pale skin and green hair. She let go of the canoe and pointed them towards the first piece of solid land they'd seen since the egret's island. It was filled with tall trees covered in some sort of dark green vine - so completely covered that Nasim wondered if the trees were getting any access to the sun - but there was a path between them.

Robin nodded, flashed the last nymph a smile, and began to paddle the canoe up to the bank. He jumped out and pulled the boat up onto the bank.

"We'll leave the boat here," Robin said, pulling Star-shooter and his quiver over his shoulder. "For when we go back."

"So we are going back?" Nasim asked.

"Of course," Robin said. "Why would you think otherwise?"

"Because I thought that if we got Oenone you would leave before taking the Palladium," Nasim guessed.

Robin turned and he looked furiously indignant. "You think I would go back on my word?" he demanded. "You think so little of my honor?"

"No..." Nasim said immediately, but a voice in his head argued, _Everyone knows the only reason you came on this quest was to rescue your girlfriend_.

"Come on," Robin said, tightening the strap of his quiver. "We don't know how far this... 'girl's school' is."

"Hippolyte School for Girls," Andy said, making her way up the bank. "Is that, like, a Catholic school? Right, girls schools are Catholic?"

"You are assuming that Hippolyte is a saint," Robin said. "She isn't."

"Then who is she?" Andy asked.

"An Amazon," Robin said.

"Wait, are you saying the Amazons are still alive?" Nasim asked. "I thought they were mortal."

"So are maenads," Robin said with a suppressed shudder. "There will always be devotees of Dionysus as long as he is living. And there will always be Amazons as long as there is war."

"I bet they were especially powerful during women's suffrage and the feminist movement," Nasim remarked and Andy laughed. Robin looked confused and worried, but occasionally threw in a comment as Andy and Nasim continued their conversation in murmured tones.

About an hour from the stream they came to a small break in the trees where an unusual mound rose from the ground like a sleeping giant. It, like everything else in the Florida forest, was covered with the thick, invading vine. A black space, looking disturbingly like a mouth into the earth, gaped in the mound. Cold air breathed out of the opening, which was framed by three wooden beams. The top beam had black letters messily painted on it: "DANGER: KEEP OUT".

"Who in their right mind would build a mine this close to the Everglades?" Nasim asked. "It probably flooded and that's why it's abandoned."

They skirted around the mine entrance and continued on the path. Another hour or so later and they broke from the cover of the trees.

And there, in the middle of nowhere, with absolutely no reason for being there, was a school. The break in the trees ran in a wide oval and the invasive vines suddenly stopped at the edge of the clearing, as though afraid to come any closer to the school.

The school itself was made of red bricks, tall and imposing at three stories tall, it was trimmed with some sort of tanned stone. Steps led up to the glass front doors and a bronze seal hung above them: a crescent and helmet. Written in bronze letters above the seal said, "style Hippy choirs fog rolls". Oh wait, that probably was "Hippolyte's School for Girls."

And tucked beneath the the alcove where the seal was hung was a little white box with a flashing red light.

"Bug," Nasim noted, nodding towards the camera.

"Brush it off," Robin suggested.

"No... a camera... never mind," Nasim sighed, exasperated. "The point is, we've been seen."

Sure enough, a face appeared in a window near the door, spotted them immediately - as though she knew they were there - then vanished.

A few seconds later a figure appeared at the glass doors and opened them. A woman walked out and looked at them. Robin walked out to the bottom of the steps without hesitation.

Nasim and Andy followed, looking at the woman - she was tall, at least six feet, and was African American with dark skin and black hair braided back into a low, thick ponytail. She wore a black pantsuit with a silk leopard printed blouse underneath and her boots were tall and their high heels added at least another three inches to her already formidable height. A belt with a silver buckle completed her outfit.

"May I ask what you are doing on school property?" she asked, sounding like every other annoyed high school principal Andy had ever come across.

"We are looking for a girl we believe may have been enrolled as a student here," Robin said. "Oenone?"

The woman gave a slow smirk and nodded. "She knew you'd come, half-blood," she remarked.

The hairs on the back of Nasim's neck rose and glanced to either side. Women, some no more than Andy's age and a few who looked to be thirty or so, had come around the sides of the school. They were all holding shields shaped like crescent moons and had an assortment of spears, swords, and hunting axes. The younger ones were wearing khaki skirts and white polo shirts with the school logo embroidered above their right breasts. None of them looked happy to see the three demigods.

"Love," the principal said, her lip curving in a disdainful sneer. "I never set much store by it. But it's such an easy trap for those who do believe in it. All the Crafty One had to do was capture your little friend and you come running."

"Where is she?" Robin demanded, voice low. Nasim noticed his hand straying to his hunting knife.

"Where's the Palladium?" the woman retorted.

"Why didn't she send you?" Andy asked abruptly. "Why didn't Athena send you to get it?"

"We do not know where it is," the headmistress frowned. "The knowledge was not entrusted to us."

_So Athena doesn't trust you as much as she lets on_, Nasim thought with a wry smile. _She's probably worried you'd take it for yourself._

"Who are you?" Robin demanded.

"I am Penthesilea, daughter of Ares," the Amazon said. She held out her hand and a girl scampered out of the school, holding a bronze-tipped spear. "Queen of the Amazons, and headmistress of this Academy."

"You died," Robin said, wonder and fear battling for dominance in his voice.

"So the poets say," Penthesilea mocked. "But they also said your Oenone was dead. Besides, no son of man can kill me, Robin son of Robert Martin."

The choice of names was pointed and Robin winced.

"Bring forth the prisoner," Penthesilea commanded, stepping aside. Three people stood on the other side of the glass doors: two were dressed in the school uniform, but the last one wore a blue dress.

"Oenone!" Robin shouted, trying to leap up the steps, but Andy and Nasim caught his arms and held him back. Because as soon as he'd made a move, the Amazons on either side of them had made threatening noises and advanced a few steps forward.

Robin struggled against them and may have succeeded in getting away, but Nasim bound his feet to the ground with a spell. Despite this, Robin continued fought.

Oenone looked nothing like the naiads of the Everglades. She was slight and small, with white-blonde hair and dark blue eyes that were widened in fright. Nasim saw her mouth move as she called Robin's name and tried to throw her own guards off. Suddenly, at a signal for Penthesilea, one of the students inside pulled out a dagger and held it to the nymph's throat. Robin froze.

"I've always wondered," the Amazon said, walking down the steps, her high heels clicking. "If naiads bleed water." The other Amazons laughed, but Robin's face was bloodless with rage and fear.

"You wouldn't," he said.

"Wouldn't I?" she smiled, and it was like a lioness baring her teeth. "Think, son of Robert Martin, wouldn't I?"

Robin said nothing, but his silence confirmed everything.

"Give me the Palladium," Penthesilea offered. "And I'll give you the nymph."

"No." It was Andy who spoke this time and her face was hard and determined.

"The Crafty One did not mention your companions," Penthesilea told Robin, then looked at Andy. "Who - exactly - are _you_?"

"Andromache, daughter of Macaria," Andy said proudly.

"Well, Andromache," the Amazon said. "If you want an application... you only need to ask."

"I seem to have left my pen at home," Andy retorted. "But that's beside the point. The point is that you're an Amazon, and there will always be Amazons as long as there's a fight. So let's make it you and me."

"For the girl?" Penthesilea grinned and Andy nodded. The woman laughed and raised her spear. "Foolish child! I have had over three thousand years to practice! What weapon shall you choose?"

Andy said nothing, but grimly drew her sword.

"No," Robin whispered weakly. "Gæ∂ a wyrd swa hio scel." _Wyrd goes ever as she shall. _Maybe it didn't mean that Robin could protect them. Maybe it meant that Fate was in control.

"Nasim, let me go," Robin demanded. "I'll fight her."

"No, Robin," Andy said. "No son of man can kill her... so I reckon it's time to go Lord of the Rings on her."

A/N: Footnotes

Amazons: a tribe of warrior maidens known for their ferocity and crescent-shaped shields

Penthesilea: the Amazonian queen who accidentally killed her sister, Hippolyte. She fought and was killed in the Trojan War.


	31. 31 Andy

Andy had never fought in single combat outside of camp. So taking on the queen of a warrior tribe who was the daughter of the god of war and had probably been raised by lions or tigers or bears (or all three) was possibly the bravest or stupidest thing Andy had ever done. She knew what Robin would say if there wasn't a knife to Oenone's neck: stupidity and bravery were often the same thing.

Penthesilea smiled patronizingly at Andy and twirled her spear, it instantly shrank and became a double-sided battle sword. Andy wasn't even sure she could rely on the high heels to slow the Amazon down.

"So... do we bow or something?" Andy said. "Cause I'd prefer to just get down to business."

"I like that," Penthesilea smiled. "But it won't save you." The Amazon raised her sword and charged Andy, who dropped to the ground and rolled away, making Penthesilea follow her away from her friends.

Andy heard the tell-tale whistle of a blade through the air and she turned on her back, her sword raised to block the descending blow. It jarred her and her teeth shocked together; Penthesilea looked down at her, jaw set and eyes hard. She may have been laughing before, but now that she was fighting, she was all seriousness.

Andy kicked up, aiming for the stomach, and realizing too late that the combined height of the Amazon and her heels meant that Andy's short legs couldn't even begin to reach the stomach. But it was slightly satisfying to hear Penthesliea's knee pop out of socket.

The Amazon wailed, but she didn't fall. Her sword did lose contact with Andy's and the girl was able to struggle to her feet. Penthesilea growled, and swung at Andy. She blocked and parried. The Amazon, inhibited by her injury, didn't manage to stop the blade in time: a gash open on her arm.

Penthesilea threw her sword aside and leapt at Andy with the ferocity of a wild dog. She grabbed Andy's shoulders. In desperation, Andy's hands scrabbled at the taller woman and her hands found purchase. Pulling on it, Andy heard a pop and the Amazon fell backwards.

"Andy, RUN!" Nasim shouted. She did, fleeing into the shelter of the vine-draped wood. And off to the side, she saw Robin and Nasim running as well; but Nasim was facing backwards as purple strands of fire leapt from his fingers.

There were shouts behind them, but Andy didn't look back. She only ran, one hand clutched around her sword and the other clutched around whatever she had snatched from the Amazon.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed Andy and pulled her off to the side and down. Another hand clamped around her mouth.

"It's us," Nasim's voice breathed in her ear and the hands let go.

The boys had taken at the base of a tree where the vines covered a hallow between the roots. Robin's face was lit by the green light that filtered between the leaves. The picture reminded Andy of the first time she met him in the green wood. But then he had been laughing and smiling, now he looked tense and worried.

"I could have killed her," Andy whispered hotly.

"But not the fifty or so schoolgirls who were getting pretty ticked that you were killing their principal," Nasim retorted in a hushed voice.

"Don't know what their issue was," Andy frowned. "I would have loved it if someone killed _my _headmistress. But then again, she did turn out to be a fury, so..."

"Robin son of Martin!" Penthesilea's voice, clear and angry, rang through the trees. "I will kill the naiad - unless the girl gives my sister's girdle back! If she does not do so within the week, and give me the Palladium, we will see the color of a nymph's blood."

Robin turned to look at them, but his face was not afraid or even angry. He was curious and he tugged the belt Andy had taken out of her hand. He examined it carefully and even gave a wan smile. "The Girdle of Hippolyte," he said. "And look, it has writing around it."

"_It is not unseemly to die fighting_," Robin read in Greek. As soon as he said it the belt fell away from the buckle and the silver buckle began to change, shrinking and twisting until it formed a small silver key. Hopefully one that matched the lock upon the Palladium.

"Strange," Robin said, running his thumb along the key. "The inscription is corrupted, it should say 'it is not unseemly for a man to die fighting for his country'. But then again, this would have been very inspirational for her sister as she went into battle." He held up the leather portion of the belt. "Unfortunately, we cannot return the girdle to Penthesilea. Because it's gone."

They moved a little further away that night and slept fitfully. Andy had a feeling that Robin didn't sleep at all, but she couldn't blame him. The only ransom he had to give for the return of Oenone had fallen apart in his hands.

When it was light enough that they could just see each other's outlines, they returned to the stream. The stream's naiad was waiting for them and she began to push them back into the swamp.

By the time dawn had fully come, they were already almost halfway to the sawgrass marsh and about five of the nymphs were helping them along. The egret had come as well and perched on the side of the canoe. Robin absently stroked the bird's back, fingering the key.

The nymphs vanished as soon as they hit the sawgrass marsh. The egret remained on the canoe, watching them like a wise sage. Robin gave Nasim the key; Andy could see that Robin's hands were trembling. She guessed that he didn't think he could remain steady enough to unlock the chain - either that, or Robin remembered that Hecate was the goddess of keys. No, she was pretty sure that it had to do with the shaking of his hands.

Nasim carefully inserted the key into the lock and turned it. With a tinkle like crystal, the chain fell away and Nasim was able to lift the statue off its pedestal.

There was no thunder, no dramatic scenes (Andy had half-expected the pedestal to sink into the marsh) in the early morning light. The only sign that the object of their quest had been reached was a soft call and the flutter of wings as the egret took off and flew away over the cypress trees.

"I guess this is it," Robin said hollowly.

"Robin..." Andy said as Nasim carefully placed the Palladium safely in the canoe. "Maybe we can go back and... and try to rescue her."

He looked at her with hopeful hazel eyes. "You really think we can?" he asked.

"We can try," Andy said.

"Hello, just ignore the fact that I'm holding the image of a goddess over here," Nasim commented.

"Okay," Andy told Nasim agreeably.

"It's not a goddess, it's Pallas," Robin corrected, running his fingers through his hair. Andy noticed that the scratches on his face his gone, but his hand looked infected. That was odd; hadn't it healed before?

"We need a plan, if we're going to sneak in to the school," he said.

"Can the naiads help us?" Andy asked.

"They can't leave their source or they begin to dehydrate," Robin told her.

"What about Oenone?" Nasim pointed out.

"Oenone is... special," Robin said, smiling slightly. "You really think we can save her?"

"If anyone can, we can," Nasim assured him, slinging one arm around the taller boy's shoulders. Andy took Robin's hand and smiled at him.

Apparently the nymphs had decided that now they had helped Robin twice they didn't need to do so again. At any rate, both the guides (the egret and the naiads) were gone and they had to find their way back to the path outside of the swamp by themselves. Luckily, the three of them remembered enough of the way to make it there with only one or two wrong turns.

By the time they made it to the abandoned mine it was late afternoon and the sun was shining, but the interior of the mine was pitch black.

"That mine gives me the creeps," Andy admitted and Nasim nodded. But before they could pass the entrance there came a soft call from within and Robin stopped.

"Did you hear that?" he asked them.

"Almost," Nasim replied. Robin frowned as it came again and he moved closer to the entrance of the shaft.

"Robin, don't go in," Andy said, her voice tight and frightened.

"Someone needs help," he said. "Here." He took off Star-shooter and his quiver because he wouldn't be able to fit into the tunnel with them. Giving them to Andy he ducked inside.

"Robin, stop," Nasim begged, but the other boy moved as though in a trance.

"Just a few feet," he promised. "There's a voice in here."

Suddenly the arrows in Robin's quiver began to tremble, clattering together. Robin turned to look back at the sound, and then there came a ripping sound, like roots being torn from the ground.

And without warning, Robin vanished. The ground where he'd been standing was broken up, and boiling in chunks.

"ROBIN!" Nasim and Andy screamed, running forward. But both of them stopped just outside the doorway. Even from here, they could see one thing for certain: there was no hole or pit which Robin had fallen into, the ground - while churned up - was solid.

Star-shooter began to hum and quiver anxiously. Andy held up the longbow and stared at it.

"Watch out!" Nasim warned and at the same time the bowstring snapped. The bow straightened with a spring.

"What's going on?" Andy asked, gazing at the unstrung bow with horrified eyes. "Where's Robin?"

"I don't know," Nasim whispered. "It looks... like the earth swallowed him."

"Robin?" Andy called, her voice cracking. "Robin?" She began to cry and call his name hysterically. She wasn't even aware of Nasim wrapping his arms around her and begging her to calm down, to stop screaming Robin's name... because he was gone.

They sat outside the mine all night, staring into its dark, mouth-like entrance. Andy had no idea when they fell asleep.

A/N: Footnotes:

Hippolyte's Girdle: one of Hercules's tasks was to retrieve this belt

"It is not unseemly...": a line from the _Iliad_ of Homer.


	32. 32 Will

Will had had a mercifully nightmare-less sleep. So when he woke up he was feeling somewhat happy. Until he realized that he wasn't in his bunk in Cabin Seven.

He opened his eyes a saw trees overhead and light filtering through a strange vine. Feeling the ground beneath his fingers, Will felt moist earth that was slightly sandy. He sat up, blinking and looking around.

Was this a dream? Will wondered. If it was a dream, why was Andy here? And Nasim? They had falling asleep sitting upright, cross-legged. Andy's head was on Nasim's shoulder and his arms were wrapped around her. Will had the terrible feeling that he was intruding on something personal.

Something was around Will's wrist, something that didn't belong there. He lifted his arm up and saw a thin leather bracelet with golden letters stamped on it.

"_Gnothi seauton,_" Will said. "Know thyself."

"Inscribed in the Temple of Apollo at Delphi," Nasim said. Will looked over and saw the boy's eyes were open. "What are you doing here?"

"I have no idea," Will said honestly. He was glad to find that he was wearing his normal clothing and that his bow and quiver were lying on the ground nearby.

"Will?" Andy asked groggily as she woke up. "No. NO." She was pale as a sheet and her dark eyes looked wild as she glared at him.

"I fell asleep at camp and woke up here," Will said. "What's going on?"

"You can't be here!" Andy hissed. "No!" Will realized that she was crying.

"Robin... disappeared," Nasim explained. "And if you're here, we can only assume..."

"No! He can't be dead," Andy shouted, pushing Nasim's arm away and storming off. Will watched her go, and his eyes caught sight of what looked like the entrance to an abandoned mine. Lying in front of it was a thin length of wood, rather like a longbow whose string had been cut.

"Tell me everything," Will said softly.

Afterwards, Will knew he had to contact camp. They would be worried about him. He vaguely wondered if the same thing had happened to Percy, just waking up in totally the wrong place.

Somehow, someone had decided Will needed to be on this quest. Probably his father, judging from his new jewelry. But Will wasn't sure of anything more than that: Robin had been leader of the quest, was Will supposed to take over? But now that Robin was gone - gone, because even Will had a trouble thinking the word 'dead' - did that mean they weren't supposed to rescue Oenone? Were they just supposed to take the Palladium and run? Will needed to talk to Chiron.

"Do you know a place I can make a rainbow?" Will asked Nasim. Andy was standing just out of earshot, her arms crossed and back turned. Star-shooter lay like a body where it had fallen.

"The naiads of the Everglades may help," Nasim said, but then he shook his head. "But only Robin can speak to them. I can try to bend the light, if you want."

Nasim closed his eyes and raised his hands, his open palms tracing an arch in the air. Nothing happened. Nasim opened his eyes and frowned.

"Sorry," he muttered. "Not working. Had... a shock."

"It's okay," Will said soothingly. "Just - take your time."

Nasim took a deep breath and let it out in a heavy sigh. He repeated the gesture and this time a shimmering, iridescent bow appeared before him.

"Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, accept my offering," Will chanted.

He fished a golden drachma out of his pocket and tossed it through the rainbow with an expert flip. It flew straight through the window and hit Nasim square on the nose.

"Ow!" Nasim yelped, and the rainbow disappeared as he was distracted.

"No Iris-messages," Andy said. She'd come back into the clearing, her voice rasping and her eyes bloodshot. Tears had streaked through the grime on her cheeks.

Nasim was holding his nose and his eyes were watering. "You mean... we can't reach camp?"

"Brilliant," Will groaned, his head falling into his hands.

"Ro-bin," a voice said. It was rough and sounding like a caw. "Ro-bin!" Will looked up and saw Andy and Nasim gaping at something in a tree. Will twisted to look up and around.

A huge golden eagle was perched in one of the trees.

"Ro-bin!" the eagle cawed. "Ro-bin!"

"He isn't here," Andy told the bird.

"Ro-bin?" the eagle asked, tilting his great golden head. "Heee-los. Heee-los Ro-bin_._"

"What's it saying?" Will asked, standing up. "What does it want?"

"Heelos?" Nasim frowned. "That sounds like - "

"Helios?" Andy asked the bird. "Are you from Helios?"

"Heee-los," the eagle agreed. "Ro-bin?"

"He isn't here," Andy shouted at the bird. "Can't you understand? HE'S. NOT. HERE!"

"Heee-los forrrr Ro-bin," the eagle insisted, hopping up and down on his branch in an agitated way. "Forrrr Ro-bin."

"I'm Robin!" Will shouted in desperation. The eagle cocked its golden head at Will and examined him with one black, keen eye.

"Ro-bin?" it asked, clearly not buying his declaration.

"Yeah, that's me," Will insisted. Nasim and Andy were holding their breaths, watching Will and the eagle.

"Purrrrl safe," the eagle informed him. "Heee-los safe Purrrrl. Sunn huse_._"

"The pearl is safe," Will repeated. "Helios saved the pearl. Sun hose?"

"Sun house," Andy corrected. "Sun Palace? The Black Pearl is in the Palace of the Sun with Helios?"

"Ro-bin un-stand?"

"Yes, I understand," Will nodded.

The golden eagle looked at him again, looking like he wasn't sure Will understood.

"Can you take a message?" Nasim asked the eagle.

"Hee-kate?" the bird inquired. "Sunn Hee-kate?"

"Yes, can you take a message?" Nasim repeated.

"Meh-sage?" the eagle asked. "Meh-sage: Purrrrl safe. Heee-los safe Purrrrl. Sunn huse."

"No, don't _repeat _the message," Nasim said. "Can you _take _a message?"

But the eagle bobbed from side to side and cawed, "Meh-sage: Purrrrl safe. Heee-los safe Purrrrl. Sunn huse."

"This is useless," Andy groaned. "We'll never get anything else out of him."

"Ro-bin?" the eagle asked, twisting its head around until it was completely parallel to the ground. It lifted one massive, wickedly curved talon and pointed at Will. "No Ro-bin. Teh-ll Heee-los. Heee-kate sunn, no Ro-bin."

"Well, at least he's good for something," Nasim scowled as the bird flew away. "Bet Robin could have talked sense into him."

"Don't talk about him like he's dead!" Andy snarled.

"Everyone just calm down!" Will shouted.

"_You_ calm down!" Andy and Nasim screamed back. Will opened his mouth to retort, then took a deep breath.

"Right," he said. "Right, this is what we're going to do. We're going to follow through with the plan, get back to camp, and get the Palldium back on Olympus."

"But how do we even know we'll be allowed on Olympus?" Andy asked.

"We'll snail mail it if we have to," Will said. "But one way or another, that statue is getting back where it belongs."


	33. 33 Nasim

It was a pitch-black night, with no moon. But that's when children of Hecate worked their best magic.

The trick was to mess with the cameras so that they didn't have a noticeable disruption in the tape - unfortunately the tinge of purple that tainted Nasim's magic was the very definition of noticeable. However, the new moon made it easier for Nasim to change his magic and alter it so that it would carry no color.

Will watched admiringly as Nasim made a complicated series of motions from where they stood under the shelter of the trees.

"That should do it," Nasim said.

"I didn't see anything," Will commented, but it was questioning.

"Good," Nasim said. "Now they'll be looking at a four second time loop. Ready?"

"Yep, let's go," Will said, carefully sneaking out from under the shelter of the shadows. Nasim and Andy ghosted after him, taking care to be as quiet and inconspicuous as possible.

They slipped up to the front steps of the school and ducked under the shelter of the alcove below the seal.

Will nodded pointedly towards a small white box just inside the door. A red light winked at them repeatedly and the numbers on the keypad were lit by a steady green light. Nasim saw it and, without needing to speak, disabled the alarm with a Jedi-like wave of his fingers.

Will tapped the lock on the door and raised one eyebrow. Nasim frowned at it and carefully pulled his sword just an inch or two from its sheath and cut his finger on it.

"What are you doing?" Andy hissed.

"Locks are harder than electronics," Nasim whispered. He held his finger over the lock and allowed a few drops of blood to fall into the keyhole. There was a sizzling sound, then a distinct click as the tumblers gave way.

"We're in," Nasim said softly. Will nodded and pushed the door open; he held his breath for a moment, practically waiting for an alarm to go off, but nothing happened.

Will motioned for them to stop, and he got down on his hands and knees and began to crawl inside. Andy looked at Nasim and he gestured for her to go first.

The floor was cold on their hands and knees. Nasim was glad Will had suggested that they crawl because there was a front desk located off to the side. A bright, flickering light came over the top of the desk, casting a woman-shaped shadow on the ceiling. If they'd tried to walk in, they would have been spotted for sure.

There was a short flight of stairs leading into the rest of the school. They crawled past several camel-hide upholstered chairs and plastic, waxy fake plants. Nasim was slightly unnerved that the overall interior of Hippolyte's School for Girls was a heck of a lot like a normal school.

A hallway ran both directions at the top of the stair. A small, neat little sign that looked like it was made of fake wood had one arrow pointing to the left reading "Rooms 100-110" and another pointed to the right with the "Rooms 111-120".

Andy frowned and pushed her way forward, peering off to the left and to the right. She nodded emphatically to the right and began to crawl that way. Will grabbed her ankle and she looked around; he pointed up to a small back dome - another camera.

They both looked at Nasim who mouthed: "Taken care of." Andy nodded and forged ahead. They passed door after door of classroom, still on their hands and knees just in case one of the classrooms wasn't empty.

Andy had been right; a staircase was at the end of the wing. Another fake wooden sign told them that "Rooms 200-220" were overhead.

"Dorm?" Will mouthed, frowning. Andy shrugged and pushed herself onto the balls of her feet, resorting to creeping up the stairs. Nasim could tell that she was nervous that she couldn't draw her weapon.

When she got to the top of the staircase, the two boys right behind her, Andy held up a hand for them to stop.

There were footsteps coming down the hallway toward them. They got closer and closer, and Andy began to shift. Her silent wiggling rather reminded Nasim of the way a house cat squirms around when preparing to pounce on a bird.

The footsteps came closer and closer until they were right on them. Someone came around the corner and Andy shot to her feet, one hand clamped around the person's arm and the other covered her mouth.

Oenone's eyes were wide and she looked surprised, but not frightened. Andy immediately let her go, almost like she'd received a shock. The water nymph at once crouched down to be at the same level as the boys and pulled Andy down with her. The naiad was holding a long, bronze dagger but it didn't really fit in her hand, making it look like she'd taken it from someone else.

"How did you - ?" Andy began, her voice unnaturally high-pitched.

"I'm not completely helpless, despite what Robin might think," Oenone replied in a hushed whisper. "Where is he?"

"We have to get out," Will said instead, already creeping back down the staircase.

Despite her calm veneer, Nasim could see that Oenone was slightly shaken and the blade clenched in her hand kept hitting the floor with a quiet clunk. She eventually stashed the bronze dagger behind one of the fake plants in the front office as they crept out.

No one stopped them and no alarms went off. Nasim even was able to reset the burglar alarms and cameras, but to re-lock the door he had to make another cut on his finger.

"Black magic," Oenone hissed, her dark blue eyes flashing.

"Let's go," Will said, wisely grabbing Oenone's elbow and pulling her after him into the trees.

By the time Andy and Nasim caught up with them, Oenone had pulled her arm out of Will's grasp. "Where's Robin?" she demanded. "Who are you? You weren't with him earlier."

"I'm Will, I'm a son of Apollo and - " Will looked at Andy and Nasim, " - I wasn't actually there when it happened."

"Let's get farther away before we talk about it," Andy said.

Oenone frowned, and crossed her arms over her chest. Her eyes flashed again and her hair began to collect dew as though caught in mist. There was a sound like the echo of thunder.

"Where's Robin?" she asked again, her voice surprisingly calm. "If you don't tell be where he is right now... "

Nasim would have laughed - it was a classic example of angry girlfriend - except that Will sighed and looked at him helplessly.

"He's... he was taken into the ground," Nasim said.

"You mean - he's dead?" the naiad asked, her voice breaking.

"No," Andy said at once. "But he's... gone."

"No." A tear trickled down her cheek. "No. Not again." Then she turned and began to cry into the arms of the person nearest to her, who happened to be Will. The older boy looked confused and helpless, he awkwardly patted Oenone on the back.

They went back to the hollow tree where they'd left Star-shooter, the quiver, and the Palladium.


	34. 34 Andy

Four plane tickets bought in a small town called Naples were all that it took to get them back to New York. It was surreal, considering the Black Pearl and all the trouble they had taken to make sure it didn't, you know, sink; they could just call Will's mom and have her pay for tickets and viola! four seats on a northbound plane.

Everyone else on the flight looked like tourists who seemed disgruntled about leaving the hot climes and sandy beaches behind. Oenone didn't seem to know, care, or even acknowledge the plane. She had fallen into a silent, blank look and her eyes seemed darker than usual. The naiad had gotten her hands on Star-shooter and the quiver and would not let them go. Perseus's wallet had disappeared with Robin since it had been in his pocket at the time. Will had taken charge of the Palladium.

The only time Oenone demonstrated her godly powers were when she helped them get through security with all their weapons. After that - well, it was like she shut down. She did not speak unless spoken to and gazed out the window morosely. One time, Andy thought she could hear the nymph humming something and when she listened closely, she recognized Robin's little minuet.

Their trip back to camp was so uneventful, it seemed like something of the world - the most dangerous part that made monsters (the workings of poets) real - had died with Robin. Only, he isn't dead, Andy kept telling herself.

When they walked into camp at last, it was strange to see people who smiled to see them. No, it was just strange to see people smiling.

"Will! Will's back!" one of Will's half-sisters ran up and gave him a huge, tackling hug. He struggled to return the hug and protect the Palladium from getting crushed.

"Where were you?" Annabeth demanded, running up. She still looked terrible, so Andy guessed that Percy wasn't back yet. Jason, Piper, and Leo were, though, and they came up after Annabeth. Andy could see Chiron galloping across the strawberry fields.

"Will! By the gods, we were worried," the centaur smiled, clapping Will on the back.

"I've been in Florida," Will told him. "I think my dad sent me there to help out." He held up his arm and showed them the bracelet. Annabeth looked at it and then looked at Andy and Nasim.

"Where's - ?" she began but two girls flew between them. Literally flew.

"Nasim! How'd it go?" Sabrina asked, touching down with a little bump. Lou landed flawlessly and hugged Nasim, ruffling his hair.

"I don't think we've been introduced," Chiron told Oenone politely as the siblings reunited. "I'm Chiron."

"Oenone, of Ida," the naiad said. "Robin told me the world had changed since I knew it, but I never guessed how much. How long has your camp been here?"

"Over one hundred years," Chiron said. "But - "

"Where's Robin?" Leo asked.

Everyone fell silent at once and turned towards the four of them - Andy and Nasim, Will and Oenone.

"He's gone," Oenone answered. "The Earth took him."

The shock registered with nearly everyone, which was pretty amazing considering that Robin had spent about two days at camp. The Palladium was taken up to the Big House by Will and Chiron, Oenone said she wanted to be left alone and headed off toward the lake, Sabrina and Lou took charge of Nasim, and Andy was pretty much left in a rapidly dispersing crowd.

"We shouldn't let her go off by herself," Annabeth told Andy.

"Why?" Andy asked, feeling numb. Her head was filled with a strange buzzing noise that she was pretty sure sleep would eliminate, but she wasn't sure she could sleep.

"Robin said something about... naiads drowning themselves," Annabeth said. "Plus, I kind of know how she feels."

Andy guessed that Annabeth did know, because she'd lost Luke and then Percy. Oenone had lost Paris and now Robin. The two girls headed off toward the lake.

Oenone was sitting on the dock and the naiads from the lake had risen to the surface. One of them had extended a mottled-green hand out of the water and taken Oenone's hand.

"The water is so dirty now," the water nymph sniffed. "My fountain was as blue as a robin's egg. At it's source it ran clear and pure. This water is green, or brown, or grey."

Annabeth knelt by the naiad's side and put an arm around her. The girl leant into her side, bright silvery hair falling over Annabeth's shoulder. She met Andy's brown eyes with her dark blue ones.

"I'm afraid the green wood might die if Robin isn't there," Oenone said. "Ida is gone; if the forest is gone too, I have no home."

"You can live here," Annabeth offered immediately.

"That is very kind," the naiad said, her thumb rubbing along the back of the other water nymph's hand. "But I think I want to go back and see. It's... Robin's mother said it was the only safe place left in the world."


	35. 35 Nasim

"So what's been happening since we've been gone?" Nasim asked his sisters as they headed back to their cabin.

"Well, nothing much," Sabrina said. "We've been rebuilding things the dragon trampled and, well - "

"There's a new cabin," Nasim suddenly realized. There was a new cabin right next to theirs; it looked like it was a regular cabin that had been painted white. Every color of the rainbow was present in the paint that had been splattered Pollock-style over those white walls.

"Who's this one for?" Nasim asked, moving closer. A stylized number 18 had been painted beside the door.

"We made a cabin for - for Robin," Lou said. "I mean, this is the second time that a muse's child has shown up."

Nasim pushed open the paint-splattered door and looked inside. It was bright inside, and everything had been made of honey-colored blonde wood. The wood on the bunks had all been carved elaborately and different colored blankets lay on every bed. A CD player and small collection of CDs were left in one corner. A bookshelf had been nailed up and a motley collection of paper back books stood there like mismatched sentinels.

"We had a collection," Sabrina said. "Pulled together the blankets from various cabins. Iris's cabin painted the outside, Hephaestus's cabin did the carvings, Apollo's donated the CD and player, and Athena's collected a couple of books for them. We... thought it would be nice if Robin had some place to stay at camp."

"Yeah," Nasim nodded. "It would have been nice."

"We used levitations, animations, and several other spells to build it with the help of - " Lou began, but Sabrina elbowed her and made a slashing movement across her throat.

Nasim remembered that, even though the wallet of Perseus and the epics contained in it had disappeared with Robin, there was another book, _Beowulf_, that had been left at the bottom of the arrow satchel. Maybe he should add it to the bookshelf.

But that felt like stealing. Could you steal from a dead man?

Every Indiana Jones movies screamed yes. But Nasim's heart said no.

"Iris-messages aren't working," Nasim said, running his fingers through his hair. "I... need to talk to my father. Can one of you rig up a spell?"

"I know the perfect one," Sabrina smiled.

Back at their cabin, Sabrina sent Lou away.

"She's... not a very good people person," Sabrina told Nasim with a smile. He nodded; he knew how Lou was.

Sabrina sat cross-legged on her bed and began to chant in an ancient language that made Ancient Greek sound like it had been written yesterday. A space in front of her, roughly rectangular in shape - a lot like a TV - began to shimmer and darken. Zig-zagging lines and white noise like an old-fashioned television filled the space.

"Let me tune it," Sabrina's voice said from the other side and she said a few more words. The image resolved and cleared. A man with dark, carmel-colored skin and thick black hair came into focus. He had a kind mouth framed with a trim black beard; his eyes were like Nasim's, dark and doe-like. Dark maroon curtains hung behind him and there were two hooks where the muhaddab had hung.

"Nasim?" Abal Sameer asked, startled. He seemed surprised at his son's appearance, not the magic involved. His rich accent made Nasim ache with homesickness.

"Nasim, I'm going to leave, 'kay?" Sabrina said, coming out from behind the screen. "The spell doesn't need me."

"Who's that?" Nasim's father asked.

"Um, thanks Sabrina," Nasim said, nodding to her as she slipped out the cabin door. "Hi, Dad."

"Hi, son," Amal smiled slightly. "Was that a special girl?" Special girl was what Nasim's father called girls Nasim had a crush on.

"Uh, that's my sister," Nasim said. "Sabrina. I told you about her, remember?"

"Oh. Yes, you did," his father nodded. "Is everything okay?"

"Not really," Nasim said. "I... lost a friend." The corners of Mr. Sameer's eyes turned down.

"I'm sorry," Amal said. "Why don't you tell me about this friend of yours?"

"He was... different, Dad," Nasim said.

"In my experience," Amal said slowly. "Being different is good."

"How can you say that, Dad?" Nasim asked, shaking his head. "After all that's happened to us?"

"There's nothing wrong with being different," Amal smiled slightly. "Tell me more about him."

"He acted like he was born in the eleventh century," Nasim said.

"B.C.E. or C.E.?" Amal asked without missing a beat.

"C.E." Nasim answered. "He was a son of Calliope. That's - "

"Muse of epic poetry," his father nodded. "I picked up a little book of mythology trivia."

"Really, Dad? Trivia?" Nasim laughed, shaking his head. Then he sobered up again and sighed. "We went on a quest. To get a statue of a goddess, but really just to rescue Robin's special girl. We don't really know if - if he's dead or... or what?"

"Is she okay?" Mr. Samheer asked.

"Who?"

"Robin's special girl," Amal said. "Is _she _okay?"

"Her boyfriend just disappeared," Nasim said. "How do you think she's doing?"

"You said disappeared," Mr. Samheer noted.

"Yeah, so what?" Nasim shrugged it off.

"For every man there is a purpose which he sets up for his life and which he pursues. Let yours be the doing of all good deeds," Amal continued. "Nasim, if you believe your friend is alive, what do you think you should do?"


	36. 36 Hecate & Nasim

Gods are remarkably resourceful. Calliope had gotten away with "inspiring" her son, Apollo had sent dreams to his son and then transported him from Long Island to Florida, and Helios had figured out that Zeus wasn't paying close attention. It was a fairly easy matter for Hecate - Mistress of Magic, Keeper of Keys, Three-Faced, Frequenter of Crossroads, Crone and Virgin - to figure out a way to help her son.

Besides, Hecate was Titan-born. So was Helios, for that matter, and both Calliope and Apollo. Poor Zeus, with the godly born he had more sway, even more so when they were his own children, but over the Titan-born...

Zeus had already given Hecate more power than he ever intended. Before the lots were divided for Sea, Sky, and Underworld, Zeus gave Hecate a measure of each. She could travel anywhere on, below, or above the earth. Long Island? An easy hop.

The Book was bound entirely in pewter, with sigils that had been the letters of the ancient language of Chaos, the language of spells. The words in The Book were written in that same language; they moved across the page, fading in and out. Complex diagrams and drawings scintillated around. When Hecate touched The Book, the sigils on the cover flared with purple light.

The words could only be read by a few - four people actually - but they contained the secrets of magic. These words could burn stars, and raise up empires, and topple gods (oops, don't tell Zeus that last part). It would have been better for Hecate to keep the words under her protection, for the last time these words had been in the hands of mortals - well, Hecate still refused to be blamed for atomic bombs.

And those selfsame powerful words were neatly tucked under the blanket of Nasim's trunk by his mother while he and the other campers were at the dining pavilion. For a second or two, the cover of the book continued to glow through the sheets, lighting Hecate's face for a moment. But then the light slowly faded and Hecate was left in darkness. She liked the darkness and always had. For in the darkness, one could simply _disappear_...

Nasim kept one eye on Andy throughout dinner. It was probably just that she was sitting all alone at her table, but it was also because she looked so incredibly sad. Nasim had never seen a meal Andy didn't inhale, but tonight she played with her food. And at the campfire she burned three marshmallows in a row, making Nasim think she didn't really want them.

Andy was wearing clothes to were too big. They were mostly black with the names of bands Nasim had never heard of written across. He sort of wondered it those were Nico's clothes. Would that be weird, Andy wearing her half-brother's clothes? Probably annoy the Hades out of Nico, but Andy always did. Nasim sort of wished Nico was here, he could take charge of his sibling.

It was a tradition at camp to burn shrouds when it was not possible to recover the body of a dead camper. Nasim and Andy's cabins made them shrouds as well, just in case. Nasim's was black with purple, silver, and gold designs that flickered across it in an untraceable pattern. Lou commented that it was a shame they had to burn it. Apollo's cabin had come together to make Robin and Andy's shroud under the direction of Will. Andy's was dark grey with a silver tiara looped around a white bone - the symbol of Macaria. Robin's was forest green with spring green leaves and red feathers embroidered all over it.

Andy was supposed to burn her own shroud and give a speech as Robin's was put on the fire, but she vanished as soon as the time came. Oenone would have been next in line, possibly even before Andy, but the naiad had gone back home in a way only water nymphs can - it really brought new meaning to the phrase "dissolved into tears". But the naiads in the lake had promised to get her back to the green wood, if it was still there.

Nasim and Will stepped up and gave a combined speech. Nasim left the bonfire right after the burning and went back to his cabin. He had to pass Cabin Eighteen on the way. It was so light colored that it almost shone in the darkness, except for the places the windows were, which were black and empty. For a second, he thought he heard someone inside, but pegged it down as his overwrought imagination as he continued on to his cabin.

He went to his bed and fell into it, ready to let sleep take him and erase the hollowness in his stomach. Instead, something sharp poked him in the back and he yelped, jumping out of the bed.

Nasim thought that it might be the muhaddab, because the corner that had poked him felt like the tip of its sheath, but when he pulled aside the blanket there was a book.

A really _strange_ book. Nasim turned the lights on with a flick of his fingers and sat down on the bunk, opening The Book.

At first, he thought the combination of weariness and dyslexia was making the words swim across the page. Then he realized that they were actually swimming, high-diving, water aerobics-ing, and every other activity resembling synchronized swimming across the page. And he could _read_ them. Once he'd gotten used to the dance they made, he found that their movement actually made sense of it.

In fact, it was their dancing that made the spell, for every spell Nasim could imagine - and quite a few he couldn't - were written here. And as he read, it was like the spells became imprinted in his brain. The letters swirled off the page and entered his head, filling it with knowledge.

Every spell used by Circe, Merlin, Prospero, and Houdini was written here. There were also several Nasim recognized as the roots of spells used by Chrestomanci, Gandalf, Dumbledore, Jadis, and several others.

Nasim had no idea of when Sabrina or Lou got back. He was vaguely aware of them saying something about the lights, so he made a small, purple fireball hover over his head so they could turn off the lights and get to sleep.

He stayed up all night, letting the words of magic fill his head and infiltrate his memories.

A/N: Footnotes:

Titan-born: Hecate, daughter of Perses and Asteria - Helios, son of Hyperion and Theia - Calliope, daughter of Mnemosyne - Apollo, son of Leto.


	37. 37 Andy

Andy sat on one of the many unused bunks of Cabin Eighteen. She'd come here after the campfire; she really hadn't felt like a sing-along.

Turning on a small flashlight, Andy went to the bookshelf and looked over the titles. Robin had loved these poems and Andy wondered if, by reading them, she could be closer to him. Maybe his name would even be written on the pages. Yes, the name _Robin_ would surely be written on every page.

She didn't know which one to choose. She'd never been fond of reading. Her hand hovered over the poor selection.

"_Arma virumque cano..."_

"_Andra moi ennepe, mousa..."_

"_By this the Northerne wagoner..."_

"_Menin aeide thea..."_

The books whispered beneath her fingers. She recognized most of the languages, except one. She picked up a book called the _Aeneid _and opened it. It was written in a strange language (Latin?) but the was a translation on the facing page. Andy sat down with the book and paused. She thought someone might be outside, but she ignored that.

Placing one finger beneath the first line, Andy began to painstakingly read.

"Of arms... and the man... I sing," she muttered out loud. "Who first made w - made way... predestiny. No, _predestined_ exile."

It was a long night for both Andy and Nasim.


	38. 38 Nasim

Nasim knew that this was probably suicide. I mean, she warned me fair and square, he thought to himself as he stood uneasily outside of Cabin Thirteen. He raised a fist hesitantly, then knocked on the door. No sound came from within.

It had taken him an entire weeks to read the entire content of The Book, but that was only because the pages changed so much that one page actually carried the amount of information normally occupied by twenty pages.

He knocked again, knowing that he was eventually going to have to work up the courage to go inside. It was dark outside; Nasim hadn't been paying attention to his surroundings when he'd finished reading. He'd just come straight here.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" a voice asked. Nasim whirled around, head filling with fighting spells and his hands obediently blazing to life with purple, fiery magic.

A boy with olive-toned skin and dark, shaggy hair stood there. He was wearing an aviators jacket and black jeans; a sword hung at his side and a backpack was slung on his shoulder.

"Nico?" Nasim gaped.

"It's 3 am," Nico informed him, checking his watch. "Now, what the damnation are you doing outside my door at 3 in the freaking morning?"

"I could ask you the same question," Nasim retorted. There was a spot behind his eyes that was pulsing with pain. "You're never here."

Nico gave him a sort of smirk as his backpack slipped off his shoulder. "Are you here to see Andy?" he asked.

"Yes," Nasim said slowly, extinguishing the fire in his hands.

"Are you her boyfriend?"

"What? No!"

"No need to sound so disgusted, that's my sister you're talking about," Nico flared.

"She's not your sister, she's your - " Nasim frowned, trying to figure it out in his head. "Niece? Whoa, that's weird."

"Yeah," Nico frowned as well. "Never thought of it that way."

"I'm surprised we haven't woken her up," Nasim noted, nodding toward the door.

"Uh, do you know Andy?" Nico grinned. "Nothing can wake her in the morning. And it is technically morning."

"I need to talk to her," Nasim insisted.

"Your funeral," Nico said, opening the door and stepping inside. Nasim slowly followed, looking around. The Book was tucked into his jacket; he could feel its pulsing energy against his side. The Book was the greatest gift to a half-blood since Daedalus's laptop. Actually, it might be even better. Nasim hadn't stop thanking his mother since he'd realized what it contained.

The beds were all empty except for one; the blankets had bunched up over a sleeping figure. A book lay just under Andy's bed, but Nasim didn't really spare it a second glance.

"Um, Andy?" Nasim asked, moving closer.

"Man, you don't know anything, do you?" Nico said, rolling his eyes. "Always check for weapons before trying to wake her up." Andy's sword lay under the bed; Nico nudged his toe under the blade and expertly kicked it away. He made a sarcastic motion indicating that it was now safe to approach the sleeping girl.

Nico made no move to unpack, and Nasim didn't think he would. He probably wouldn't be staying long. Nasim tentatively reached out and poked Andy's shoulder, leaping back just in case. Nothing happened.

"Andy? Come on, wakey wakey," Nasim said, moving close enough to shake her shoulder and feeling really nervous about being that close. "Andy? Andy!" He bent down and started to shout in her ear.

Nico was looking amused, leaning back against his bunk with a patronizing smile on his face. When Nasim looked at him hopelessly, Nico smirked even more and walked into the bathroom. There was a sound of running water. Nasim began to wrack his head for spells that might help him wake up Andy.

"What are you doing now?" Nico asked, reappearing and holding a tub of water. "Trying to wake her up telepathically?"

"No, trying to remember something that will - " Nasim was cut off as Nico pushed past him and dumped the tub of water on Andy.

She screeched like a banshee and flew out of bed. Hair streaming with water, she snarled like an angry cat and her hands found Nico's neck and began to throttle him. He reacted surprisingly well, simply pulling something out of his pocket and holding it up for Andy to see.

"Pop-tart?" he offered.

"Strawberry?" she growled.

"Would I bring you anything else?" Nico asked. Andy let go off him - well, she really pushed him away - and snatched the pop-tart. Ripping the foil off, Andy bit into it with a vicious ferocity that indicated she was taking her anger out on it.

"Actually, this dude wanted to see you," Nico said, jerking his thumb at Nasim. Andy turned her glare on him.

"Well, at least _he_ didn't dump a pail of water on me," Andy noted, slowing her eating down.

"Only cause he didn't know," Nico grumbled.

"What's up?" Andy asked Nasim, softening. Nico's eyes registered surprise and flashed from Andy to Nasim and back.

"Sure you aren't dating," Nico snorted.

"Shut up Nico," Andy growled. "I've gotten better with a sword since you left."

"Andy, I've got an idea," Nasim said slowly. "My mom told me. And, well, my dad sort of." Andy stopped eating.

"To... save him?" Andy asked.

"Yes." Andy dropped the pop-tart, which hit the ground and broke.

"Andy... doesn't... want... a pop-tart?" Nico looked stunned. "What the Hades is going on?"

"You think you know where he is?" Andy asked.

"No, but I think I can take us to him," Nasim said slowly. "Are you coming?"

"A more important question," Nico interrupted. "Are you wearing my shirt?"

"Yeah, so what?" Andy asked, scrambling to find her shoes, which she shoved on without socks. "Where's my sword?" She found it and strapped it on.

"It's my shirt!" Nico protested. "Wherever and whatever you're doing, don't rip it, burn it, get poison or blood on it - "

"Blah, blah, blah," Andy mimicked. "Best friend to save if he's still alive!"

"... best friend?" Nico asked. "Wait, does that involve my dad? Andy? Andy, this better not involve your grandfather!"

"Take my hands," Nasim said. Andy immediately did so, tossing her head to flick a strand of hair out of her face.

"Aren't you going to tell Chiron?" Nico asked desperately.

The edges of Nasim's vision began to go grey with veins of purple fire streaming through it. Nico faded and his voice grew more and more distant. He was still muttering indignantly about his shirt - who cares? Like anyone knew that band anymore, Nasim thought.

Everything went grey and the veins of purple arched around them, always three to four feet away. The only thing that remained clear was Andy.

"Where are we?" she asked, her voice echoing strangely.

"The space between worlds," Nasim said. "This is the world where Hecate walks. And Morpheus. Centaurs use it as well, to bend time."

The grey began to dissolve like mist, leaving the purple veins behind. Between the encasing vines, dark shadows began to fill. They were in the Underworld.

Everything was shades of black except for two figures right before them. As the purple fire extinguished, Andy and Nasim were left standing in front of two chairs.

In one of the chairs slumped an unconscious youth with curly hair and grey, dead-looking skin. But they did not look at him long, because of who was sitting in the second chair.

Robin's skin was pale, almost bloodless. His head was slumped forward and he looked like he would have fallen out of his chair if not for the bonds holding him there. It was as though the earth itself had risen up to encase Robin's lower body in a solid sheath. Four or five tendrils of earth had snuck up, snake-like, to wrap themselves around his torso and hold it in place.

"Robin!" Andy cried, half laughing and half sobbing, running towards him. She fell to her knees in front of the chair. "Robin, it's me! It's Andy and Nasim!"

"He can't hear you," a cool, female voice said. Nasim whirled around and saw a young woman with pale skin and black hair wearing a white dress and holding a shallow clay bowl in both hands. "And even if he could, he would not remember."

"What are you talking about?" Andy asked, her voice shaking. "He knows us! We're his best friends."

"And that is the chair of forgetfulness," the woman (Nasim knew it was Persephone) told her. She moved closer and Andy backed away from her, staring at the goddess. "He does not even remember his own name."

Persephone took a damp cloth from the bowl and began to bathe Robin's forehead with it. Something shimmered behind the chair and two men, silvery and transparent, appeared.

One of them was tall and handsome, but looked slightly worn by battle. His armor was scratched, his crimson cloak torn, and his face was drooped with sadness. The other looked a lot like Robin, with long dark hair and a handsome, sorrowful face. He wore a simple tunic and an ornate lyre was slung at his hip.

The second one knelt at Robin side and carefully, gently held his hand. The other, more war-like of the two, hung back and sighed heavily.

"I've seen you," Andy said suddenly, narrowing her eyes at the warrior. "On the Black Pearl."

"I thought you might have," the man nodded. "But only Robin was supposed to see me. I was only supposed to be real to Robin." His voice cracked and he put a hand to his eyes.

"Odysseus believes it is his fault the boy was taken," Persephone told the half-bloods.

"I encouraged him!" Odysseus moaned. "I tempted the Fates, thinking they couldn't harm me because I was already dead."

"It is not your fault," the other ghost assured him, his voice musical and soothing.

"Can't you do something? Nasim asked him. "Couldn't you have prevented this?"

"The only thing that could have prevented this was a robin feather," the ghost told them. "It's so much more than good luck, it's a protective charm. But maenads, ever the enemy of Calliope's children, took the feather."

"Are you... are you Orpheus?" Nasim asked.

"Was. I _was_ Orpheus, once upon a time, long ago, in a place far away," the dead poet told them.

"Well, can't someone save him?" Andy demanded. "Why have you brought him here?"

"Brought him here?" Persephone asked, straightening up, her dark eyes flashing. "We found him here, we kept him alive. The Earth brought him here." She pointed one long white finger at the mud that encased Robin.

"Is it my imagination," Nasim said uneasily. "Or is that rising?"

"Gaia is consuming him," Persephone said sadly. "There is little time left. She is feeding on him."

"But why Robin?" Andy asked. "We were all there, why not one of us?"

"Because Robin has the most power," Odysseus said. "That was what first drew me to him, his simple complete purity."

"Robin knows the epics by heart, doesn't he?" Orpheus asked Andy. When she nodded shakily the ghost continued, "But I suppose you will not understand as I do. You see, Robin not only knows the words, he knows all that they contain. Every battle and every feast, every laugh and every sob. He knows all the emotions contained in them and all the human souls. That is what Gaia wants, the essence of humanity which the poets captured in words. You can see she is draining him, the magic upon his clothing was the first thing to go."

Nasim took a look at the clothing and noticed that the hoodie, jeans, and t-shirt were gone, all replaced with 17th century clothing and a feathered collar.

"Gaia is using the chair to pull Robin's memories out twice as fast," Odysseus said. "It's a brilliant strategic move."

"What, so you admire her?" Andy asked, voice high.

"Who's that?" Nasim interrupted, pointed towards the second chair and its occupant.

Persephone's gaze went dark and the very ground shook. "That is Pirithous. _Never_ speak of him again."

"Yes, Gran," Andy muttered under her breath.

"Don't call me that," Persephone fumed.

"Can we concentrate on Robin?" Orpheus demanded. At once everyone sobered.

"You know, I've never seen the gods this united in their fondness for a mortal since Hector," Persephone said softly. "Apollo won't even take out his golden scale to see what his Fate is. But then, he always had a soft spot for Calliope. Kivese's ready to kill something with her bare hands."

"If I know her, she'd rather do it with a bow," Andy noted.

"Artemis is no better, her hunters are screaming to be allowed down here," Persephone frowned.

"You're not letting them down?" Nasim asked. "Why not? I thought you said you wanted him to be rescued!"

"Apollo told us not to," Persephone told them.

"Wait, I thought you said Apollo wanted him to be rescued," Andy interrupted.

"Apollo knew he would be," Orpheus sighed, standing up fluidly. Nasim noticed that he floated a few inches above the ground. "So... we're all waiting for you."

"Us?" Andy asked.

"Us," Nasim nodded. "Andy, I've got an idea. Remember Nyx?" Andy's eyes lit up and she scrambled over to Nasim, gripping his hand tightly. They both turned to look at Robin's slumped form.

"Nothing's happening," Nasim noted uneasily.

"I - I don't know where to look," Andy admitted.

"I think I can help," Orpheus said, floating over. Nasim shrugged and reached a hand out for the ghost. Orpheus gave a wan smiled and shook his head.

"I don't think that's possible," Orpheus said. He instead offered his hand to Andy, daughter of the queen of ghosts. Andy hesitated, then took it. As she did, Orpheus became more solid and traces of color bloomed across him.

He turned and looked at Robin; Andy and Nasim followed his lead. But this time they _saw_. Robin was glowing faintly with a golden light but even as they watched that light was growing dimmer and dimmer. The earth around him now looked like a giant hand clutching him, dragging him down.

Nasim raised his hand, palm facing Robin. Purple streaks of light curled off his palm and writhed through the air like snakes. They slithered towards Robin and began to wiggle into the cracks between Gaia's fingers.

A/N: Footnotes:

Pirithous: A friend of Theseus, he attempted to capture Persephone and make her his wife. Hades found out and imprisoned him in the Chair of Forgetfulness.


	39. 39 Andy

Andy could feel Orpheus's fingers tightening around her own. It was an odd feeling, since the touch of a ghost was extremely light it just felt like the mildest of pressures on her hand. She would have looked at Orpheus, but right now she was too preoccupied by Nasim's magic.

The snakes were working their way through the earthen fingers and as they did light began shoot out from the cracks in the fingers, filling the area with a blinding light. From the corner of her eye, Andy could see Persephone shielding her eyes from the glare. Odysseus looked directly at it, but Andy supposed ghost's eyes couldn't be burned.

Slowly, as though they were being forced to unclench, Gaia's fingers loosened. As soon as Andy could see the first glimpse of Robin's boots, the earth crumbled away. The muddy tendrils that had wrapped themselves around his chest writhed like snakes, hissing and coming to life. Nasim's serpents rose, cobra-like, and struck back once... twice... on the third time the earth snakes disintegrated.

Without anything to hold him up, Robin fell forward. Andy let go of Nasim and Orpheus's hands to catch him, but he hadn't fallen all the way out of the chair.

"Here," Persephone said. She place one cool white hand under Robin's elbow and pulled. Then Robin _really _fell from the chair. His eyelids were still closed by his eyes moved beneath them feverishly.

Odysseus hovered nearby, looking like he wanted to help and was frustrated he couldn't.

"Is he going to be okay?" Andy asked as Nasim ducked under Robin's arm and helped support him.

"He still has no memory," Persephone shook her head.

"By the gods, I wish I could go with him. Protect him!" Odysseus said.

"There is a way," Persephone said slowly. When everyone turned to look at her with surprise, she crossed her arms over her chest and frowned.

"I _am_ the queen down here," she said, wrinkling her nose. "I think I know how things work. And I say there is a way Odysseus can go with him. Do you think it's a good idea?"

"Robin would know," Andy said.

"No," Odysseus said, shaking his head and moving forward. "There's no time."

"Very well," Persephone nodded. "Orpheus, what about you?"

"He's your half-brother," Nasim noted. The poet looked nervous and shook his head.

"Why not?" Andy asked. Orpheus turned to her and took her by the shoulder.

"Andy, when you touched me, I felt alive," he told her. "I don't want to feel alive."

"Why not?" Andy asked. She just didn't understand.

"Because then I'll feel pain," the ghost told her, eyes wide and sad. "I don't want to be alive."

"So... how do we do this?" Odysseus asked Persephone.

"The Gates of Dreams," she told him.

Nasim and Andy carried Robin, who was still unconscious and very weak. Luckily, it was not a long trip to the Dream Gates. Andy, who'd been to the underworld before and had traveled for days across Tartarus, was extremely grateful. The two gates were right outside the Hypnos's Palace and the cloying scent of poppies filled the air.

The gates were tall, at least thirty feet each, and resembled archways more than anything. One was made of something that was grey and highly polished, almost like the horn of an animal. The other was made entirely of ivory, creamy and smooth.

Bat-like shadows clung upside-down to the poplar trees outside the gates. The air was filled with the sound of their flitting wings as groups of them flew out through one gate or the other.

"False dreams," Persephone said, pointing to the ivory gate. "True dreams," she indicated the horn gate. "First mentioned in your book, I believe, Odysseus."

"Which one do I go through?" the ghost asked.

"If you only want to exist in the imagination of Robin," Persephone frowned. "The Horn Gate. But I think you'd prefer the Gate of True Dreams, if you want full use of your hands, speech, and other faculties."

"Right," Odysseus squared his shoulders and followed the flock of dreams heading through the ivory gate.

"Not many dreams right now," Orpheus commented. "Morning must be near. I'll take my leave now." He bowed to Persephone and to Andy. "Eurydice is waiting for me."

"Who?" Andy asked.

"Oh, I supposed you could call her my Oenone," Orpheus smiled slightly. Andy smiled back, realizing that Orpheus smiled as little as Robin frowned. But when he smiled, they were nearly identical.

Orpheus vanished like smoke on the wind, leaving the three of them watching as Odysseus approached the ivory gate and stepped through it. For a moment, he shimmered, nearly winking out, but then he began to solidify. Andy watched as he was colored in, his cloak flaring bright crimson, his armor seeped with rich golden-brown, his hair dark red, and his grey eyes sparkling.

"I just had a thought," Andy said slowly as Odysseus, fully alive and laughing, strode back toward them, taking care to go around the Gates of Dreams and not through them. "Can Mnemosyne restore Robin's memory?"

"Mnemosyne?" Persephone asked, arching one eyebrow. "She preserves, not restores. If you want to help him with that, ask the naiad of Ida."

"Nasim, can you take us all to Adriondack?" Andy asked.

"I don't know, I wouldn't know what to aim for," Nasim said uncomfortable, shifting Robin's weight. But then Andy realized that Robin's weight was lessened. When she looked down, she saw his boots, which had been dragging the ground, plant itself firmly. His other boot did likewise and Robin straightened.

"Robin?" Andy asked slowly. Odysseus slowed his pace and approached as one might a wild animal. Robin turned towards Andy, but his eyes were strangely blank.

He did not recognized her.

"Robin, we're going to take you to Oenone, okay?" Andy said gently, rubbing his back. There was not even a flicker of recognition at the nymph's name.

"Witch - " Odysseus addressed Nasim, who stiffened.

"Don't call him that!" Andy snarled. "He has a name, King of Ithaca!"

"Son of Hecate," Odysseus said instead. "Can you take us to the nymph, or not?"

"Yes, give Andy your hand," Nasim told him.

"I don't want to take his hand," Andy fumed.

"Andromache Tiber," Persephone warned in an angry grandmother voice. Andy rolled her eyes and snatched Odysseus's hand, digging her nails into it in a way she hoped hurt. Robin looked straight ahead, not acknowledging any of them.

The violet arches of fire began to flare into existence, leaving Persephone, the smell of poppies, the poplar trees, the fluttering of dreams, and the Gates of Dreams outside. Grey mist spread through the gaps in the fiery veins, cutting off those images and sounds.

"You can stop trying to claw my hand off," Odysseus told Andy as the mist began to clear. "It isn't working."

"Damn," Andy growled, letting go of the man's head as soon as the purple fire vanished as well.

"Wait a second," Nasim frowned. "We're at camp!"

"Nasim? Andy?" a light voice asked. They were by the stream and Oenone was standing up. Her sky blue dress had been cleaned and mended, its hems were lost in white, frothy cloth. The naiad's eyes narrowed as she caught sight of Odysseus.

"_You,_" she spat. "Murderer. Child killer."

"Well, at least Robin liked me," Odysseus grumbled.

Oenone, who had been storming towards them - almost literally - froze, her eyes wide as they caught sight of Robin.

"Careful," Nasim warned. "His memory was taken. He can't - "

"Remember me," the naiad finished, looking sad but not surprised.

"Do you think you can help him?" Andy asked. Robin abruptly let his arm fall from Andy's shoulder. He could now stand perfectly well with just Nasim's help. "Persephone said..."

"I know how," Oenone nodded. She bent down and picked up Star-shooter, which must had been laying at her feet the whole time. She moved forward and gently touched Robin's face. His eyes didn't even focus.

"I need a bowstring for a longbow," Oenone said. "Andy?"

She nodded and ran off to find Will.

A/N: Footnotes:

Eurydice: Orpheus's wife, she died on their wedding day.


	40. 40 Nasim

When Andy brought Will back, Oenone had led Nasim, Robin, and Odysseus to the archery range. Chiron had come as well, saying he'd run into Andy on her way. Robin was standing on his own now, staring off towards the targets.

"Here," Will said, giving Oenone the string and looking at Robin. "He really can't remember anything?"

"I don't even think he can talk," Nasim said, shaking his head.

"Hey, that bow's a little much for you," Will told Oenone. "I don't think you can string it by yourself. I'm not even sure I could string it by myself."

"I'm not going to," the naiad told him. "But if there is one thing Robin will remember, even when Homer and Vergil and the other poets are gone, even when the memory of the green wood and our time there is faded, even when the names of friends and family are lost to him..." Oenone handed Robin to bowstring and his fingers automatically curved around it. "... He will remember the feel of Star-shooter."

Oenone lifted the great bow and put it in Robin's hand. As he took it, she bent forward and pressed her lips lightly to the scar on his hand.

Robin did not pay attention to her, but at once looped one end of the bowstring on the tip of the bow. He shifted his foot so that he was putting his weight on the end of the bow and, straining his muscle, began to pull the bow until it bent into a great crescent. Then he looped the second end of the bowstring over the remaining tip and as he did, Nasim could see the scar on the back of his hand rapidly fading and disappearing altogether. Star-shooter was whole once again.

"Holy - " Will whistled.

Robin continued as though he had not heard. He raised the longbow - but there was no arrow. Then suddenly, miraculously a golden-fletched arrow appeared in his hand, notched and ready.

Odysseus gave a secret smile as Robin anchored the arrow, fixed his finally focused eyes on the target, and exhaled. The eagle arrow sped onwards, cutting through the air with an angry hiss. It lodged itself deeply in the target. When Robin lowered his bow, his eyes flashed brown - there was no mistake, for everyone had been looking at his face to see his reaction.

"Oenone?" Robin asked, turning to the nymph. She smiled tearfully at him and Star-shooter fell to the ground. "Oenone." She threw herself into his arms and he buried his face in her long, blonde hair.

When he finally turned his face out towards the others, he was smiling despite the tears in his hazel eyes. "Andy," he smiled. "Nasim. Will." Oenone allowed herself to be separated for a split second while Robin gathered the other three into his arms.

"And Odysseus?" Robin laughed. "What, back from the dead?"

"Someone has to protect you," Odysseus smirked.

Odysseus made no move to protect Robin as Oenone swung him around and kissed him. Robin's arms circled her waist and picked her up as he kissed her back.


	41. 41 Odysseus

I suppose you want a happy ending. Everyone does, nowadays. Not so in my time - why, Vergil didn't even finish his _Aeneid_! The _Iliad _ended with the death of the greatest man of all time, and my own story even ended with my death - although Macaria did have me in the end; it was a peaceful death in the arms of my beloved Penelope and Telemachus.

But Robin loves these new, modern happy endings. He got his own, after all.

Calliope reopened the green wood and Robin and Oenone returned. However, they were forbidden to leave unless it was to Parnassus or Camp Half-Blood, and even then I had to accompany and protect them. But Robin and the nymph never minded - before them lay an joyous eternity in their prime of their life.

From what Oenone tells me, Andromache was also happy with her best friends Nasim and Will, who were there for her always. Nasim, who's magic continued to grow more powerful until he was a full fledged Sorcerer, became the counselor for his cabin, soon earning the nickname of "Gandalf" (damned if I know what _that_ is supposed to mean).

Kivese and the Hunters still visit the green forest regularly and when they do the trees are full of merry laughter. They are not the only ones who come here, though, and we have seen everyone from knights in shining armor to very lost television crews. We've had hunting parties carrying bows and hunting parties carrying rifles. We've even had a few people from the future, but I shan't tell you of them.

And so, as the poets would never deign to say, we all lived happily ever after.

Odysseus

King of Ithaca


End file.
